


New Potential (Ninjago Fusion Au)

by SalineCoelacanth



Series: Ninjago Fusion Au [2]
Category: Lego Ninjago
Genre: AU, M/M, fusion au
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-09-02
Updated: 2019-11-29
Packaged: 2020-10-05 20:20:45
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 22
Words: 53,412
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20494748
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SalineCoelacanth/pseuds/SalineCoelacanth
Summary: After learning about each of their fusions, the ninja learn about how fusions have special true potential forms that they must unlock. While this happens, a mysterious new villain shows up with a strange hatred for the fusions who plans to get rid of the fusions for good.This is a sequel to the first fusion au fic I wrote, so you might wanna read that first if you haven't. I also have a couple comics on my tumblr that are kinda important and you should probably read those too, so I'll link a masterpost I made for that.https://saline-coelacanth.tumblr.com/post/187448644737/important-comics-you-should-probably-read-before





	1. Something New

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Since the ninja have gotten some time to get used to their fusions, Master Wu decides to tell them about something important.

Swift sat alone in a room, his eyes closed as he sat there meditating. He concentrated until he found himself sitting in a strange area that seemed barren. The area was all shades of pink. Swift had become used to this place. This is where he always ended up during meditation and where he would always see his weird visions. Swift stood up and looked around. 

“Alright, what kind of stuff do you have for me today?” Swift asked as he walked around. Suddenly, Swift ran into something. He looked around and realized he was surrounded by invisible walls. “Huh, that’s a little weird,” he commented, but didn’t seem too shaken up. He continued looking around until he saw something that made him freeze.

In the distance, he saw Kai and Zane. Kai was on the ground, sitting and looking as if he was in pain. He was being held down by shadowy, claw like tentacles that were wrapped around his arms and connected to the ground. Zane was standing in front of Kai, just watching him, doing nothing. 

“Zane, what are you doing!?” Swift yelled, but it didn’t seem like Zane had heard him. Swift put his hands against the invisible wall. “This isn’t normal,” he thought. 

He continued looking at Kai and Zane and saw a purple smoke begin to fill the air. Kai began coughing violently while Zane just continued to stand there without moving.

“Kai!” Swift continued yelling. He tried to reach out, but suddenly he felt his body get pulled down to the ground. The same tentacles holding down Kai were doing the same to Swift. They reached up to his face and forced him to watch his component suffering. Kai continued coughing until he finally fell over, his body looking lifeless.

“KAI!” Swift yelled one more time. Zane’s head quickly turned to Swift, his face completely wiped of any emotion.

Swift jolted awake, breathing sporadically as he looked around him. He was back in the room at the monastery.

“What was that?” Swift asked himself. He took a deep breath to calm down. “It was probably nothing. Probably just a nightmare,” he reassured himself.

Swift was almost completely calm when he heard the door slide open.

“Guys!” Jay yelled, causing Swift to jump up a little bit. “Oh, uh, sorry Swift,” Jay apologized.

“It’s fine,” Swift responded, standing up, “What do you want?”

“I just came to get you,” Jay responded, “It’s Lloyd, remember?”

“Oh yeah!” Swift said before unfusing, splitting back into Kai and Zane.

“How could we forget?” Kai questioned.

“Well c’mon, everyone’s waiting on you guys!” Jay hurried them before leaving the room. Kai began to follow, but Zane grabbed his arm.

“Kai, don’t you think we should worry about what we saw?” Zane asked.

“It’ll be fine, Zane,” Kai assured, “Right now we have to go see Lloyd.” Kai left the room. Zane hesitated for a bit before following the red ninja.

They entered the main entrance of the monastery where everyone else was waiting. Kai looked over and noticed a familiar nindroid standing next to Nya.

“Hey, Pixal! It’s been a while,” he greeted.

Pixal turned to Kai. “Yes, I have really missed the monastery, but turns out helping out my father at Borg Tower took longer than I thought it would.”

“Don’t worry about it,” Nya said, putting a hand on Pixal’s back, “We’re really happy you have you back.”

“Alright,” Lloyd interrupted, “Now that everyone is here, can you guys finally explain what you wanted to tell me?”

The ninja all looked at each other and then back at Lloyd. 

“Well,” Cole said, “We’ve all been thinking, and we feel like you’ve been really stressed out lately.”

“Like, more stressed than usual,” Jay added.

“You guys don’t need to worry about me, I’m fine,” Lloyd argued.

“Ok, but,” Cole continued, “It wouldn’t hurt for you to take a vacation.”

“Vacation!?” Lloyd questioned, “I can’t go on a vacation, I need to be here to protect Ninjago!”

“We’ll be here,” Kai explained, “If something goes wrong, we’ll be able to handle it. We’ve done it plenty of times before.”

“Yeah, you really need to take some time to relax,” Nya agreed, “What use would you be if you were too stressed out to focus?”

“Where would I even go?” Lloyd asked.

“That’s not important,” Kai said, “Just as long as it’s away from all the things stressing you out.”

Lloyd gave a slightly annoyed look to the others and sighed. “I’m guessing you guys aren’t gonna let me argue, huh?”

“Nope,” Kai responded, “Now go and pack your bags.”

Lloyd sighed and walked inside. As he walked inside, Master Wu walked out to meet up with the ninja.

“I assume you talked to Lloyd?” he asked,

“Yep,” Jay replied.

“Good,” Master Wu responded, “I know it may be hard for him, but it is good to take a short break every now and then.”

“Yeah, besides, we haven’t had any problems since we had to deal with Corria,” Jay commented.

“Do not let your guard down,” Wu advised, “Though it is true that there has been peace in Ninjago, you must be prepared for evil. Especially since Lloyd is going to be leaving for a while.”

“Yes, Master,” the ninja all replied, bowing to their master. 

Master Wu turned to Nya and Pixal. “Can you two both go and help Lloyd pack? I need to talk to these four.”

“Of course,” Nya agreed, “Let’s go, Pixal.”

They both walked inside, leaving the others alone to talk.

“What is it, master?” Zane asked, “Is it something important.”

Wu nodded. “You all have been making great progress with discovering your fusions, and I feel like it is about time I explain something to you.”

The ninja all looked at Master Wu, their faces full of curiosity.

“Do you remember when you unlocked your true potential?” Wu asked.

“Yeah,” Cole answered, “That was so long ago, but I still remember it like it was yesterday.”

Wu nodded. “Fusions go through a similar process,” he explained, “Except much more powerful.”

“Wait, really!?” Jay asked excitedly.

“Yes,” Wu said, “Just like each of you at one point, your fusions all have something that holds them back, a deep problem within them that needs to be solved. And once it has been solved, they will be able to fully unlock their true potential forms.”

“Wait wait,” Cole interrupted, “True potential  _ forms? _ ”

“Yes,” Wu continued, “Every elemental master has a true potential form that only occurs once during the moment they unlock their true potential. But fusions are able to activate this form at any time after unlocking it. However, you must be cautious in these forms, as they can drain your energy very quickly and leave you weak afterwards.”

“So, what are these forms like?” Kai asked.

“That is for you to find out,” Wu said, “The reason I told you all to discover each of your fusions as their own person was for this purpose.”

“But master, if each of us have already unlocked our true potential, shouldn’t our fusions have their true potential unlocked by default?” Zane questioned.

“You need to think of your fusions as their own people. They are not simply two components put together. They each have problems specific to them, and you must find these problems and overcome them.”

______________________________________________

The ninja were all in the bounty, waving goodbye to Lloyd as they dropped him off. Lloyd waved back to them before lifting up his bag and walking away.

“I think this will be good for him,” Kai said as the bounty began to fly up into the air.

“I am still a little worried about how well we’ll be able to protect Ninjago without Lloyd,” Zane expressed his concern.

“Relax, Zane,” Kai said, “We’ll be fine. Besides, we have our fusions now. Speaking of which, I think we have some fusion training to get back to.”

Zane smiled and nodded, “You’re right. Let’s get back to training.”

______________________________________________

A girl was alone in a dark room, pacing back and forth. She had a large snake tail that resembled a hypnobrai that dragged behind her. She held out her arm in front of her as it became surrounded by dark magic. A circle appeared, revealing what seemed to be a video of the ninja’s fusions with people cheering for them.

“Fusions, ugh,” she said to herself, “Why does everyone love those abominations so much?” The video stopped abruptly, the purple smoke disappearing. “I will make the world pay for treating me so unfairly while they worship these fusions. And then all of Ninjago will know who Vena truly is.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Kinda a short and uneventful chapter, but that's also why I posted two chapters to start. Trust me, it's going to get more interesting later on. We just gotta get through the boring intro stuff first. I've been developing the plot for this story even before I had finished the first fic and I'm really excited to start writing it, and I hope you guys are excited to read it


	2. A Mysterious Threat

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The ninja discover some strange signals coming from the city, so they split up to figure out what's going on.

“So, how does this fusion thing work exactly?” Pixal asked. Everyone was back at the monastery and Nya and Pixal were watching Ridge and Swift as they practiced their fighting skills. 

“Based on what the guys have told me,” Nya explained, “They fuse together and create an entirely new person. The whole thing is kinda confusing, but they seem to enjoy it.”

“Have you fused?” Pixal questioned.

“No, I don’t really plan to anyway,” Nya answered, “I like being strong on my own.”

Ridge shot a jolt of lighting at an attack dummy. “So, who do you think’s gonna unlock their true potential first?” he asked.

Swift was dodging some obstacles. “It’s hard to say. We don’t even know how similar it will be to before,” Swift said, “I’m just not sure what Master Wu meant when he told us that each fusion has a problem deep down.”

“I thought that part was pretty easy to understand,” Ridge replied, “I’m pretty sure each of us have had problems before, we just need to figure them out, you know?”

“Not really,” Swift admitted, “I’ve never had any problems before.”

“Really? I find that a little hard to believe.”

“What can I say, Kai and Zane just have everything worked out between them.”

“Please, Kai and Zane have problems, they aren’t perfect.”

“I didn’t say they didn’t have problems,” Swift corrected, throwing a dart at a moving target, “I just said they didn’t have any problems between the two of them.”

Ridge gave a skeptical glance to Swift, “Listen, Jay and Cole don’t have any major problems with each other, but that doesn’t mean  _ I  _ don’t have any problems. Remember what Master Wu said, we’re more than our components.”

Ridge was suddenly smacked by an obstacle that he didn’t notice coming for him. He fell over and Swift walked over to help him up.

“Good job,” Swift teased.

“You were distracting me, ok?” Ridge defended, “Besides, this whole true potential thing is messing with my focus. I just wanna know what it’s like.”

“Well, once I find out how to transform into my true potential form, I’ll let you know,” Swift said.

“Oh, ha ha,” Ridge replied sarcastically, lightly punching Swift on the arm.

“Are you guys done with training?” Nya asked, walking up to the two fusions.

“Yeah, for now,” Swift answered.

“Good, cause Pixal just got a report of some strange stuff going on in Ninjago City,” Nya explained.

Ridge sighed. “Of course as soon as Lloyd leaves trouble shows up.”

“We don’t know that for sure,” Pixal stated, “We must explore further before coming to any conclusions.”

“Pixal’s right,” Nya nodded, “Her and I will go look downtown, you guys split up and search the other parts of the city.”

They all nodded and ran off to their locations. Swift hopped on his bike he had recently asked Nya to build him and rode off into the city. Ridge rode with Nya and Pixal in one of Pixal’s mechs where they dropped him off before heading downtown.

______________________________________________

Swift rode his bike down the street, weaving through traffic. He checked the GPS installed into the bike to see where the strange signal was.

“I’m getting close,” he said to himself. As he continued through the city, many citizens pointed and cheered at him. Swift was definitely popular with the citizens, most of them admiring how cool he was. Swift acknowledged them as he drove by, causing them to cheer even louder. 

Finally, Swift reached the location. He hopped off his bike, confused that the signal was coming from a dark alleyway. 

“Why would the signal be coming from here?” he questioned. He walked down the alley, looking around for any clues. All he could see were dumpsters and trash bags, nothing out of the ordinary. He noticed a small tear in one of the trash bags and leaned down to examine it further. It was small enough that nothing was spilling out, but whatever cause the tear was unknown. Swift heard quiet footsteps. He summoned a dart and quickly threw it behind him, but nothing was there.

“What the?” Swift asked. Suddenly, he felt something touch his shoulder. He turned around and saw a shadowy creature standing right behind him. It had a humanoid shape, but no distinct features. Swift summoned darts in both his hands and got into a battle stance. “Who are you?” he demanded.

The shadow said nothing. It’s arm morphed into a sword and it ran at Swift, swinging its blade. Swift blocked it with his darts and pushed the shadow back. The shadow ran at him again, but Swift jumped out of the way. He attempted to shoot a fireball at the shadow, but it dodged easily. The shadow held out his hand and formed a ball of mysterious purple smoke. It threw the ball at Swift who quickly blocked it with a wall of ice. The ball exploded on impact, filling the air with purple smoke. Swift coughed slightly and turned away from the shadow. The smoke began to clear and Swift slowly opened his eyes and saw that the shadow was gone. Some of the purple smoke still lingered in the air. Swift thought for a moment before freezing. 

_ This- this is the same smoke from my nightmare,  _ Swift realized. He felt his body shake slightly, but took a couple deep breaths to calm down. He heard his communication device beeping, so he answered it.

“Yeah?” he asked.

“Swift, this is Pixal, did you find anything?” Pixal asked.

“Uhh, kinda,” Swift answered, “I’m just not sure exactly what I found.”

“That’s ok, you can explain when we all get back to the monastery,” Pixal said.

“Have you guys heard from Ridge?” Swift asked.

“We just called him. He is still searching,” Pixal explained.

“Alright,” Swift replied, “I’ll see you guys back at the monastery.” He turned off his communication device and walked over to his bike. He took one last look at the alley before riding off.

______________________________________________

Ridge walked around until he got to a location he was familiar with. “This was Corria’s lab, wasn’t it?” He looked up at the abandoned lab. The door was stuck shut, so Ridge cracked his knuckles before punching the door open. “Gotta admit, super strength really comes in handy,” Ridge said as he walked inside. The entire building was dark, so he shot some lightning into the light bulbs to light it up. “Lightning also comes in handy.”

He continued walking down the hall. The sight of broken nindroid parts scattered around the floor made Ridge feel slightly uncomfortable, but he continued anyway. He made his way to the main computer room. He walked up to the main computer and noticed the monitor was on.

“That’s strange, I thought this place was completely abandoned,” Ridge pointed out. Suddenly, the lights went out, causing Ridge to jump slightly.

“Looks like someone wandered a little too far from home,” a mysterious voice spoke.

“Who’s there!?” Ridge demanded. He generated some lightning in his hand to get a little bit of light. 

“I could tell you, but why would I do that?” the voice taunted. 

Frustrated, Ridge launched lightning at the wall. It hit a generator and the entire room lit up. Ridge saw a girl standing in front of her. She had light brown hair and piercing yellow eyes that glared right at Ridge. She had a large snake tail that resembled a hypnobrai. Her tail twitched slightly, but she stood completely still.

“What the?” Ridge said, surprised by her appearance. But before he could say anything, the girl ran up and kicked Ridge in the face, making him stumble back slightly. “Hey!” Ridge yelled. He summoned his flail and swung it towards her. She fell to the ground. Ridge walked up to her. “So, what are you doing here?” Ridge asked.

“That’s none of your business,” The girl responded. She swung her legs, knocking Ridge over. She stood back up. “I guess since you were actually able to knock me down, I can at least give you my name,” she said, “I’m Vena.” Purple smoke surrounded Vena’s arm and a dark purple katana formed in her hand.

“Vena? That’s an… interesting name,” Ridge replied. Vena quickly pointed her katana at the fusion.

“You think you can just insult me like that!?” Vena yelled.

“Hey, I didn’t say it was a bad name,” Ridge defended, “You’re attitude on the other hand could use some work.” The ground began to rumble slightly. A rock spike launched out of the ground, throwing Vena to the wall. Vena lay against the wall and looked at Ridge as he walked over to her.

“So, I’m gonna ask again,” he said, “What are you doing here?”

“You wouldn’t be able to understand why I’m here,” Vena hissed.

“What does that even mean?” Ridge questioned. 

Vena’s arm became surrounded by the purple smoke again. She slammed her hand to the

ground and two shadowy claws erupted from the floor, grabbing Ridge.

“ACK!” Ridge yelled as the shadows grabbed him.

“Fusions like you disgust me,” Vena said, “How can society love something like you?”

“It’s probably because we save the day,” Ridge responded, “People tend to like heroes.”

“You’re no hero,” Vena replied. She moved her arm and the shadowy claws threw Ridge at the computer, causing the screen to crack. “The ninja are the real heroes, you fusions are just here to make the job easier.”

Ridge stood up. “Why does it matter if we make it easier?” he questioned.

Vena didn’t answer, and instead retaliated by shooting a blast of dark magic at Ridge. It exploded, knocking Ridge over again.

“Hmph. I thought you were supposed to be one of the stronger fusions,” Vena taunted, “But you don’t seem very strong to me.”

“You just got lucky,” Ridge argued, trying to stand back up. He stumbled a bit, but eventually got back on his feet.

“Luck doesn’t exist,” Vena retorted, shooting another ball of dark magic, “I kinda wish I ran into the pink one. He would’ve put up a better fight.”

“His name… is Swift,” Ridge corrected, starting to tire himself out.

“I don’t care,” Vena responded, “All you fusions are the same. The only thing pinkie has going for him is he’s part nindroid, but other than that he’s nothing.”

Ridge summoned his flail and prepared for Vena to attack again, but she just stood there.

“I don’t have time for this,” Vena said, turning around, “I still have information to find.”

“What kind of information?” Ridge asked.

“Do you really think I would tell you that?” Vena retorted. Her entire body became surrounded by purple smoke until she was no longer visible. The smoke faded away, and Vena was gone. 

Ridge stood still, confused by where she had gone. He was broken out of his thoughts when his communication device started beeping.

“Hello?” he asked.

“Ridge, we’re all heading back to the monastery,” Swift said, “Did you find anything?”

“Yeah,” Ridge responded, “Well, more like I found someone.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I wanted to post the first two chapters at the same time because of how short the first chapter was. Plus there wasn't really a lot happening in that chapter, so hopefully this one made up for it.


	3. Training and Tactics

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> While the ninja try to figure out what this mysterious new villain is planning, some of them decide it's better to do some training instead.

“Alright, let’s go over what we each saw,” Nya said.

They were all back at the monastery, discussing anything that they saw to try and figure out what type of new villain they were dealing with.

“It was really weird,” Kai explained, “There was this weird shadow creature. It looked like a human, but it didn’t act like one.”

“From what I was able to pick up from the shadow,” Zane added, “It seemed to be created by a powerful form of dark magic.”

“Dark magic?” Nya questioned, “It’s been a while since we’ve dealt with something like that.”

“The good news is that we  _ have  _ dealt with it before,” Kai said, “So at least we have an idea of what we're dealing with.”

“What about you two?” Pixal turned to Cole and Jay.

“Well, I think we might have found the culprit,” Cole said, “Right, Jay?”

He nudged Jay on the arm, but he seemed to be distracted.

“Huh? Oh, yeah,” Jay replied, “We found this snake lady. Her name was Vena or something like that.”

“Snakes? Again?” Kai replied.

“Not exactly,” Cole said, “She wasn’t a snake, she was just part snake. Like, she had a snake tail and narrow eyes like a snake, but other than that, she seemed to be a normal person.”

“Ok, but what does she have to do with the shadowy thing Swift found?” Nya asked.

“Because, when we fought her, she used dark magic,” Cole explained, “And it seemed really powerful, too.”

“Where did she go?” Pixal asked.

“We don’t know,” Cole admitted, “She disappeared using this purple smoke.”

_ Purple smoke…  _ Zane thought. “Was there any other type of magic she used?” he asked.

“I don’t know, she created a sword, she had these shadowy claws, it’s kinda hard to remember everything,” Cole said.

Zane looked to the ground, a worried expression on his face.

“Zane, you ok?” Nya asked.

He looked up. “Oh, everything is fine, I just need to go think about some things.” He grabbed Kai’s arm and started walking away with him.

“Wait, we weren’t done!” Nya called after them.

“You know, I think I’m gonna go too,” Jay said, starting to back away from the group, “I, uhh, have some things to work on.” Jay left the room.

“What was that about?” Nya asked.

Cole sighed. “I think I might have an idea. I’ll go check up on him.”

Nya gave an annoyed sigh as Cole left the room. “How does Lloyd deal with them? They always try to go do their own thing.”

“You are doing your best, Nya,” Pixal reassured, “I’m sure Lloyd has plenty of problems keeping them in line too.”

______________________________________________

“Zane, what the heck!?” Kai asked, “We were in the middle of talking about who this new villain is!”   
Zane turned to Kai, his face full of worry.

“Woah, are you ok?” Kai asked, his tone quickly changing after seeing the nindroid’s distressed face.

“Kai, don’t you see?” Zane asked, “The purple smoke, the shadow claws? It’s JUST like the vision Swift had.”

“Zane, calm down, it’ll be ok,” Kai reassured, “That was just a nightmare. Swift never has visions about actually important stuff.”

“But what if it’s different this time?” Zane asked, “If I get visions about important events, then it doesn’t seem too out there for Swift to have those visions as well.”

“Alright, listen,” Kai said, “If we fuse again and go back to that mind realm place to double check, will that help you calm down?”

Zane sighed. “I don’t know…”

“Hey,” Kai rested his hand on Zane’s shoulder, “It’s gonna be ok, I’m here for you,”

“Yeah,” Zane replied softly, “It’ll be ok…” He looked at Kai and smiled. The two ninja hugged each other, both of them turning to light before forming Swift.

Swift wrapped his arms around himself. “Alright Swift, let’s just do this quick.” He sat down, getting into his meditation position. He took deep breaths to try and clear his mind.

He woke up in the mind realm. The entire place seemed empty, except for one mysterious figure standing with their back to Swift. 

Swift reluctantly held out his hand and slowly placed it on the figure’s shoulder. They quickly turned towards Swift, revealing their piercing yellow gaze. Swift stepped back a bit. He looked around and noticed the pink of the realm begin to fade to a grey color. The figure walked towards Swift. 

As they stepped forward, their form changed to resemble a female, a large tail forming behind her.

“You’re a fusion, but you’re different from the others,” she spoke.

“Wh-what?” Swift questioned, backing up. He bumped into something and turned around to see a wall of glass. He saw his reflection and noticed his gi had also turned a grey color.

“Perhaps we aren’t so different after all,” she continued talking.

“What are you even talking about!?” Swift yelled.

The figure started laughing. “You better be keeping notes, Kai.”

“WHAH!” Swift yelled as he woke up. He burst into light, throwing Kai and Zane to the ground.

“Urgh,” Kai said, sitting up, “That didn’t really help, did it?”

“No,” Zane grunted as he got up. “There has to be some sort of reasoning for this happening.”

“Well, I got nothing,” Kai replied, “But, let’s just not let this get in our heads. We won’t be able to focus at all if we keep thinking about something bad that  _ might  _ happen.”

“But Kai-”

“No buts,” Kai interrupted, “Let’s just go meet back up with the others.”

Zane looked to the side for a moment before reluctantly following Kai out of the room. They went back to where Nya and Pixal were still sitting, talking with each other.

“Took you guys long enough,” Nya said, “What happened?”

“Zane and I just had to talk about some things,” Kai explained, “But we got it sorted out.”

“Where are Jay and Cole?” Zane questioned.

“Jay left and Cole went to go talk to him,” Pixal explained.

“How long ago was that?” Kai asked. 

Suddenly, they heard a loud CRASH sound coming from outside.

“What was that!?” Kai asked.

“I don’t know, but we better go find out!” Nya replied.

They all rushed outside and saw a familiar navy blue ninja next to a broken piece of training equipment.

“Oops,” Ridge said awkwardly.

“Ridge!” Nya yelled, “What are you doing? It’s not time for training right now!”

“Oh, hey guys,” Ridge greeted, “I know, I know, I’ve just had some things on my mind…”

“Ridge, we need to figure out what Vena is plotting,” Pixal reminded, “Training can wait.”

“Ridge, it’s not like you to be so… adamant about training,” Kai added, “Is something up?”

“Well,” Ridge thought for a moment, “Just, Cole and Jay were talking…”

______________________________________________

“Jay?” Cole opened the door. He saw Jay sitting alone in the room.

“Cole, uhh, what are you doing here?” Jay asked.

“Jay, ever since we unfused, you’ve been acting like something’s bothering you,” Cole explained, “What’s wrong?”

“I don’t know, it’s stupid, I just,” Jay paused for a moment, “Vena kinda had a point back there.”

“What?” Cole questioned, “Jay, what are you talking about?”

“Well, Ridge  _ is  _ supposed to be one of our strongest fusions,” Jay explained, “But, how strong can he really be when he got defeated by her so easily?”

“She was a new enemy, we weren't prepared for her. Next time we meet her, we’ll beat her up, no problem.”

“But, I don’t know, maybe Techtonic or Vulcan would be better?” Jay suggested, “They’re stronger than Ridge could ever dream to be…”

“Jay, I won’t let you think Ridge is useless!”

“He’s not useless, he’s just… not strong enough. I guess that’s a common thing with my fusions, huh?” Jay let out an awkward laugh.

“Stop talking bad about your fusions, Jay!” Cole demanded. He wrapped his arms around the blue ninja. “All you’re fusions are great because you are a part of them.”

Jay was silent for a moment. He let out a soft laugh, returning Cole’s hug. Without hesitation, the two of them glowed. 

Ridge sat on the ground. He looked at his hands and sighed. “I… I am strong… right?” He closed his eyes for a moment. “I’m strong, but I’m not strong enough.” He stood up. “Maybe this is what Master Wu meant. I’m too weak and I need to get stronger so I can unlock my true potential!”

______________________________________________

“So yeah, that’s basically what happened,” Ridge stated.

“Why did you stare off into space during that whole explanation?” Kai questioned.

“That’s just what you do when you have a flashback, Kai!” Ridge replied, a slight edge to his tone.

“But Ridge, we still don’t know what Vena is planning, how can we train when we’re still unsure what exactly we’re fighting?” Zane asked.

“Well,  _ I  _ know what we’re fighting,” Ridge reminded, “I was the one who actually fought her, remember?”

“But, Ridge,” Nya said.

“Ridge has a point,” The ninja all turned around to see Master Wu. “It is important to learn about your enemy, but it is also important to be ready for a fight at all times.”

“Master,” Ridge said, “Am I doing this right? Is this how I unlock my true potential? By becoming stronger?”

Wu shook his head, “That is not for me to decide. You must discover that on your own.”

Ridge sighed. “Alright…”

“However, I will say you have started to figure out what it means to unlock your true potential,” Wu admitted.

“Ha ha!” Ridge cheered, “Jealous?” He asked, giving Kai and Zane a smug look.

Kai crossed his arms while Zane gave Ridge a friendly pat on the back.

“I believe Ridge has the right idea about training,” Wu continued, “We don’t have enough information about this Vena person, so the best you can do is prepare for the next battle. Kai, Zane, do you two mind joining Ridge in fusion training?”

“Of course not, Master,” Zane replied. He turned to Kai and grabbed his hand. They both generated their respective elements in their hands, and they fused back into Swift. 

Ridge and Swift sparred with each other while Nya and Pixal sparred together on the other side of the training area.

“So, looks like I might just be the first one to unlock my true potential,” Ridge rambled, “I mean, I guess it only makes sense, I have been around the longest.”

Swift rolled his eyes, “Master Wu didn’t confirm anything. It could still be anyone. Heck, it could even be Fleet, we don’t know.”

“Ha, good one, Swift,” Ridge chuckled, “But I think I have this in the bag.”

He wrapped his flail around Swift and swung him to the wall. Swift fell to the ground.

“That the best you got?” Swift taunted.

He jumped into the air and threw a barrage of darts at Ridge. He dodged them, backing up until he was backed into the wall. Swift landed on the ground, slamming his hand down, sending a path of ice towards Ridge. The ice surrounded him, trapping him in place.

“Just cause Master Wu said you were onto something doesn’t mean you’re suddenly all powerful,” Swift said as he walked up to Ridge.

“Yeah yeah, can you just free me now?” Ridge asked.

Swift picked up a rock from the ground and summoned a dart. He hammered the rock on the back of the dart as if it were a pick. The ice cracked before shattering, freeing Ridge.

“I just don’t understand what you’re so upset about,” Ridge stated, “You were acting all cocky about finding your true potential, but now that I’m actually getting somewhere, you’re acting like I’m being too confident.”

“It just doesn’t make sense to me,” Swift replied, “I’ve proven that I can easily beat you, so logically I should unlock my true potential before you.”

Ridge flinched a bit at Swift’s comment.

“No, I didn’t mean it like that,” Swift assured, “It’s just, you know,” Swift rubbed the back of his head awkwardly.

“I get it,” Ridge said, “You’re the perfect fusion. Everyone knows that, I shouldn’t be surprised.” Ridge started walking away. Swift gave him a worried look.

“Ridge,” Swift said.

“Look, it’s getting late, I think I’m gonna call it a night,” Ridge yawned before unfusing. 

“See you guys tomorrow,” Jay waved as he and Cole walked inside. Nya and Pixal followed behind them, leaving Swift alone.

Swift let out a sigh. “He has a point. I  _ am  _ the perfect fusion.” He looked down at his hands before clenching them into fists. “Nothing’s wrong. Nothing’s ever wrong.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I was gonna wait to post this tomorrow, but I was too impatient. It's still slightly shorter than most of my chapters tend to be, but the chapters are probably gonna get longer when we get more into the plot. 
> 
> I really like Swift as a character and I'm really happy to be giving him some more focus in this fic, cause he didn't really have much going on in the first fic. But then again, that first fic was mainly for introducing the characters, this is expanding them more as characters. But I'm just rambling now. Hopefully I can write the next chapter soon, I'll try to get to it this weekend.


	4. The Energy Within

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> While taking a break from training to visit the city, the ninja try to find out more about Vena, finding some new things along the way.

It had been a couple days, and things seemed to be relatively quiet. The ninja were still focussed on finding their fusion’s true potential to no luck. Nya and Pixal were doing some research about dark magic to try and figure out where Vena had gotten her powers from, but they were stumped. 

“You know, we’ve been doing a lot of training,” Jay said, “Maybe we should go out and get some fresh air.”

“But, we’re training outside,” Zane replied, confused.

“No, I mean like, away from the monastery,” Jay explained, “You know, go to Ninjago City for a while.”

“I am pretty sure the air there is not as fresh as the air here,” Zane argued.

“Oh, nevermind,” Jay gave up, “I’m going. Anyone wanna come with?”

“Sure,” Cole replied, “I’m starting to get a little stir crazy from being here.”

“I’m in,” Kai added.

“I guess I’m going too,” Zane agreed, “We may even find something about Vena while we’re out.”

“Nya, Pixal, you guys wanna go?” Kai asked.

“I’ll pass,” Nya declined, “I promised Pixal that I’d help her on a new mech.”

“Alright,” Kai turned to the others, “Let’s go.”

The ninja arrived in the city and walked around. 

“Sometimes I forget how pretty this place can be,” Cole said, “You know, cause it’s always getting destroyed.”

“Yeah, why is it always Ninjago City getting destroyed?” Jay questioned, “There’s so many other places villains could attack.”

“It’s probably because this is the biggest city in Ninjago, and also where most events happen,” Zane suggested.

“What I don’t understand is why so many people still live here,” Kai said, “You’d think that after the third, maybe fourth villain attack people would want to move.”

The ninja were stopped by a pair of girls.

“Oh my God, it’s the ninja!” one of them screamed.

“Ooo! Can you guys fuse? Specifically you two?” the other girl pointed at Zane and Cole, “Techtonic’s my favorite!”

Cole and Zane looked at each other awkwardly. 

“We appreciate your enthusiasm, but we only fuse when we need to,” Cole explained.

“That’s a lie,” Jay stated, “We fuse all the time just because.”

“Oh, oh! Can you guys fuse into Ridge?” one of the girls asked, “He’s so funny!”

“Oh, you know what? We have uhh… a mission right now,” Cole lied, “C’mon guys.”

The ninja all walked away, the two girls waving goodbye, big smiles on their faces.

“What was that about?” Kai asked.

“I don’t know, I just find it kinda weird when people want us to fuse,” Cole explained, “I guess I should’ve expected this when we started using our fusions more, but still.”

“Hold on,” Zane stopped them, “I’m picking up traces of dark magic.”

“Dark magic?” Jay questioned, “You don’t think…”

“C’mon guys,” Kai ordered, “We might be able to find Vena.”

They ran after the signal, Zane leading the way. They kept running as the signal got stronger until they reached a more secluded part of the city. There weren’t as many tall buildings, a lot of dark alleyways and abandoned buildings lined the streets. Crime was always high in this part of the city. 

The ninja walked cautiously down the street. They turned down an alleyway. It looked like a dead end at first glance until Zane noticed something.

“The signal is coming from past this wall,” he explained, “And it looked like there’s a way in up there.” He pointed up to the top of the wall. 

“That’s way too high for us to jump up,” Jay said, “And there’s nothing nearby we can use to climb up!”

“Maybe we can use something like a grappling hook to climb up,” Kai suggested.

“Where are we gonna get something like that?” Jay asked.

Kai looked at Jay, his eyebrow raised.

“Oooh,” Jay responded, “I see what you mean now.”

Jay surrounded his body with lightning and Kai surrounded himself in fire. The two of them spun towards each other until they both turned into a bright light. Cole and Zane both looked away from the bright flash of fire and lighting. As the light faded, they turned back and saw Fleet standing in front of them.

“Alright guys,” Fleet said, summoning his kusarigama, “What do you say we go find that dark magic?” 

He spun the blade part of his kusarigama around before throwing it up to the top of the wall, hooking it in place. He turned to Cole and Zane.

“You know, it’ll probably be easier if we have two people climbing instead of three,” Fleet suggested.

“You just love finding excuses to see Techtonic, don’t you?” Cole teased.

“Pfft, no…” Fleet argued, “Ok, yeah, a little bit…”

Cole let out a little chuckle before turning to Zane. “He does kinda have a point.”

Zane nodded and grabbed Cole’s hand.

Fleet watched in awe as the two of them fused together into Techtonic.

“Hey, Techtonic,” Fleet said, “You want me to carry you?”

“You’re arms would fall off if you did that,” Techtonic responded.

“What? No, it’ll be fine,” Fleet assured.

“I’ll just climb behind you,” Techtonic said, “I don’t need you straining yourself for me.”

“I wouldn’t strain myself!” Fleet argued, “I am perfectly capable of-”

“Fleet,” Techtonic interrupted, “We need to find Vena.”

“Oh, yeah,” Fleet remembered.

He started to climb up, Techtonic following behind him. 

Fleet got to the top and realized that there was a flat roof and it wasn’t just a simple wall. He turned and helped Techtonic up, his kusarigama poofing away when Techtonic got on the roof.

“So, is this like a secret building or something?” Fleet asked.

Techtonic looked down, using his scanners to check if anything was under them. “It looks like it,” he said, “And the dark magic signal is really strong inside. Vena must be here.”

“Well then, what are we waiting for? Let’s get inside!”

“First we need to find a way inside,” Techtonic pointed out.

“You have super strength, can’t you just punch the roof?” Fleet suggested.

Techtonic shrugged before looking down.

“Wait, maybe punching the roof isn’t the best idea, considering we’re standing on it- TECHTONIC!”   
Before he could do anything else, Techtonic slammed his fist into the roof. A giant chunk of it fell into the building, the two fusions falling.

“WHAAH!” Fleet yelled as he fell. 

Techtonic landed on the floor and held out his arms, catching Fleet.

Fleet continued screaming, not realizing he wasn’t falling anymore. Techtonic stood quietly as he held the purple ninja, waiting for him to stop.

“Oh, hey, I’m not dead!” Fleet realized.

Techtonic carefully set him down. The two fusions looked around. The area was completely dark, all except for the light shining through the new hole in the ceiling. 

“Mind making some light?” Techtonic asked.

Fleet nodded. He held up his hand and created a ball of fire to use as a light source. 

They started to walk around the abandoned building and entered another room. It was hard to make out what this place used to be because of all the rubble. There looked to be a couple broken computers and various other pieces of science equipment. The whole area was covered in cobwebs.

“This place is a little creepy,” Fleet commented, “Actually, it’s VERY creepy.”

“I wonder if this stuff still works,” Techtonic thought.

“Only one way to find out.” Fleet turned to one of the computers and launched some lightning at it. Suddenly, the entire room lit up. “Huh, that’s a little weird.”

“Well, who do we have here?” 

The two fusions turned around quickly and saw Vena standing on the other side of the room.

“Vena!” Fleet yelled, “What is this place? What are you doing here?”

“Clearly it’s an abandoned lab,” Vena retorted, “And I’m looking for something.”

“What kind of something?” Fleet questioned, crossing his arms.

“Wow, you ask a lot of questions,” Vena commented. Without hesitation, she launched a ball of dark energy at Fleet. 

Fleet stood still, unable to react fast enough. Luckily, Techtonic pulled him out of the way. 

“Heh, thanks,” Fleet said.

Techtonic nodded towards Fleet before turning to Vena. He summoned his crossbow and aimed it for her.

“You know, out of all the fusions,” Vena said, looking at Techtonic, “You’re the one I was excited to meet.”

Techtonic shot an arrow towards Vena but she jumped out of the way. She used her magic to create two katanas. She ran at Techtonic and swung both her blades. Techtonic created a wall of rock to block the attack. Fleet stood to the side, watching both of them fight.

“Are you gonna join in?” Techtonic asked.

“Oh, yeah, of course I am!” Fleet said, summoning his kusarigama.

“You actually want his help?” Vena asked, “From what I thought, purple here only gets in the way of your fights.”

Techtonic pushed Vena back and shot a beam of ice at her. She blocked it with her sword, leaving it completely covered in ice.

Fleet flinched a bit at Vena's comment but quickly snapped out of it, shooting a blast of lightning towards Vena. It hit her, sending a shock through her body. Vena stumbled back, dropping both of her swords. Fleet quickly swung his kusarigama towards her, wrapping her in the rope of it.

“How’s that for getting in the way?” Fleet asked with a cocky tone.

“Actually, I’d say you’re very much in the way,” Vena replied. She began to create a large purple cloud of smoke around her body that filled the room. Fleet and Techtonic both closed their eyes, shielding their faces from the smoke as they began coughing. Fleet slowly opened his eyes and saw that Vena was gone.

“Where did she-” Before Fleet could say anything else, he felt something kick his back, knocking him over. He landed on the ground and turned around to see Vena. He quickly stood back up and ran towards her.

“Like I said, you always get in the way,” Vena shot a ball of purple smoke at Fleet. It exploded into a bigger cloud of smoke, and when it faded, Fleet was gone.

Fleet appeared outside, somewhere else in the city. He ran into a pole and fell over.

“What the?” He said, rubbing his head. He stood back up and looked around. “Techtonic? Techtonic!” he yelled. “Where am I?”

He looked around and saw that he was at least still in Ninjago City. “That stupid snake lady must have teleported me away!” he realized. He sighed and sat down on the ground again. “Now I’m probably way too far to even go help Techtonic. Not that he needs my help…” Fleet looked down at the ground. “He never  _ really  _ needs my help.”

Fleet sat in silence for a while until he heard a scream.

“It’s you!” 

Fleet turned and saw a little boy pointing at him, his face full of awe. Fleet stood up.

“Oh, hey there kid,” he greeted awkwardly, “Sorry if you’re looking for Techtonic, he’s busy right now.”

“You’re my favorite fusion!” The boy cheered.

“What?” Fleet questioned. He looked around before turning back to the boy. “Me?”

“Yeah, you’re so cool!” The boy said, “You mess up all the time, but you never let it get you down. You always inspire me to never give up!” The boy had a huge smile on his face. “My name is Harry by the way.”

“Well, it’s nice to meet you, Harry,” Fleet smiled, “But you may need to rethink who your favorite fusion. I’m just useless…”

“No you’re not!” Harry argued, “You’re so cool!”

“Harry, we have to go,” Harry’s mom called from down the street.

“Oh, that’s my mom,” Harry said, “I gotta go. I’m glad I got to meet you!” He waved goodbye as he ran to meet up with his mom, Fleet waving in return.

Fleet sighed and looked up at the sky.  _ It doesn’t matter what I do… I just get in the way…  _ Fleet thought to himself. He shook his head.  _ So what? That doesn’t mean I should give up! _

Fleet looked around to get a better look at where he was. “That place shouldn’t be too far from here.” Fleet started to run to try and get back to Vena and Techtonic. He got closer to the area where they found the building. Fleet could feel himself running faster than normal. He ran down the streets, looking down each alleyway until he found the right one. He arrived back at the building. 

“I can’t give up,” he told himself, “Others might be better than me, but that won’t stop me from trying my best!” Fleet felt a surge of energy flow through him, until his entire body became engulfed in light.

______________________________________________

Techtonic looked around the room. “What happened? Where’s Fleet?” he asked.

“I teleported him away from here,” Vena explained, “I needed to be able to talk to you alone.”

“Talk to me?” Techtonic questioned, “What about?”

“I know I won’t be able to actually talk to you right now,” Vena said, “That purple one is probably gonna show up again and ruin it. Just know that I have some things I want to tell you.”

Techtonic stared at Vena, unable to figure out if he could trust her or not.

“I’ll be waiting here for you,” Vena continued, “Whether or not you decide to show up is up to you.”

“What are you planning?” Techtonic questioned.

“I can’t tell you yet.”

“Why not?”

Suddenly, all the lights started to flicker on and off rapidly. The computer screens started to flicker too.

“That’s why,” Vena replied.

A large explosion of energy burst through the wall. A cloud of dust filled the air. Techtonic and Vena both turned away.

Techtonic slowly opened his eyes and saw a strange figure standing in front of him, facing away. He looked as if he was completely made of blue and pink energy. The figure turned to Techtonic.

“Hey Techtonic,” he said.

“Fleet?” Techtonic questioned.

“You know it,” Fleet responded. He turned back to Vena. “Now, we have a fight to finish.” 

He held out his arm as it became surrounded with blue flames. He shot out a blast towards Vena who quickly jumped out of the way. Vena retaliated and started shooting multiple blasts of dark energy towards Fleet. He dodged each blast, moving so fast that it looked like he was teleporting.

“Too slow,” Fleet taunted.

He rushed towards Vena, sending a blast of energy at her. She was sent flying at the wall, cracks appearing as she crashed.

“What kind of dirty trick is this?” Vena questioned, “How come you suddenly have these strong powers!?”

“I had these powers all along, I just had to find them first!” Fleet stated.

“It’s your true potential,” Techtonic added.

“Yeah, obviously,” Fleet retorted.

“Pfft, you don’t scare me,” Vena insisted. She stood back up and began charging a large blast. She aimed it towards Fleet, but quickly changed her aim towards Techtonic at the last second. She sent the blast towards him at high speeds. Reacting quickly, Fleet rushed in, pushing Techtonic out of the way. He blasted through the wall, escaping the building.Vena coughed as a cloud of dust filled the air.

Fleet continued speeding down the street with Techtonic until he finally came to a halt, a streak of blue flames appearing behind them. Exhausted, Fleet fell over, Techtonic catching him before he fell to the ground. Fleet’s body faded back to normal, tiny sparks of blue and pink energy flying off of his body.

“You ok?” Techtonic asked.

“Y-yeah…” Fleet replied, out of breath, “Master Wu was right about that draining your energy.” Fleet began to turn to light, splitting back into Kai and Jay with Kai falling onto the ground.

“Hey, why didn’t you catch me?” Kai asked.

“I’m already holding Jay,” Techtonic replied, causing Jay to chuckle.

Techtonic set Jay down and helped Kai up.

“Guess we should head back to the monastery,” Kai said. He looked around. “Woah, how far did we go? We’re basically on the other side of the city!”

“Wow, we really underestimated Fleet’s speed,” Jay replied, “We better start walking if we wanna get back before sunset.”

Kai and Jay began walking away. Techtonic started to follow but paused.

_ Don’t forget about our meeting,  _ a voice spoke.

Techtonic looked around for a second. “Did you guys say something?” he asked.

“Nope,” Jay responded, “Why? Are your signals picking up anything?”

“It’s probably nothing,” Techtonic responded, “Let’s head back.”

Jay and Kai both looked at each other and then back at Techtonic. They turned and started walking again. Techtonic took one last look behind him before following the others.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Oof, I feel like the pacing in this chapter was a little weird, but overall, I enjoyed this chapter. Mainly, I enjoyed writing Fleet and Techtonic's interactions. They just have some really good chemistry together and I love them. I really look forward to the future chapters


	5. One On One Talk

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Fleet has a talk with Master Wu while Techtonic goes and has a talk with Vena

“You guys were gone for a long time,” Nya commented as the ninja arrived back at the monastery, “What happened?”

“We fought Vena,” Kai explained.

“What!?” Nya yelled, “Where was she?”

“She was at some sort of abandoned lab,” Cole said, “But we don’t know exactly what she was doing.”

“But that’s not all,” Jay said, “Fleet unlocked his true potential!”

“Really?” Nya questioned, “Huh, not gonna lie, I did not expect him to be the first one.”

“Is this true?” Master Wu asked, walking up to meet with the ninja.

“Yeah,” Kai answered, “It was as if we were completely made out of energy.”

“And the blue fire,” Jay added, “It was so cool!”

Wu nodded. "It makes sense that it would be easier to use your stronger abilities in your true potential forms.”

“Wait, what do you mean by stronger abilities?” Jay asked.

“Most fusions have special powers that they can only use in their true potential forms,” Wu explained, “But the elements of fire and lightning are an interesting case. By using similar properties from both elements together, you can create blue fire which is much hotter and more powerful than your standard fire or lightning.”

“Wait, so you’re saying that we can use blue fire even without our true potential form?” Kai questioned.

“With training,” Wu stated, “I believe you will learn to use both elements together and be able to use blue fire.”

“Can we do it now?” Jay asked.

“Right now?” Kai questioned, “We just got back.”

“C’mon, Kai, that was amazing! And Master Wu just said we can do that whenever if we train! Don’t you want to be able to do that?”

“Yeah, it’s just weird to see you so pumped about training.”

“I guess Fleet just got me in the mood for it,” Jay shrugged.

“Well, if you two are ready,” Wu said, “We can begin your training.”

Jay looked to Kai who nodded in return. The two of them formed Fleet and followed Wu into the monastery.

Zane began walking inside, but was stopped by Cole.

“Zane, can we talk?” he asked.

“Sure,” Zane replied. 

Cole lead Zane outside the main gate of the monastery, finding a place away from everyone else to talk.

“What do you want to do about Vena?” Cole asked, “I think it might be a good idea to go hear what she has to say, but we need both of us to go.”

“I don’t know,” Zane replied with a shrug, “I don’t trust her.”

“I don’t trust her either,” Cole said, “But we might be able to get information out of her. It could be worth it.”

“Well we can’t go now,” Zane argued, “If we do go, we’ll have to wait until later.”

Cole nodded.

Zane sighed. “There’s just something about Vena that I don’t trust at all. Dark magic is never a good sign, and her magic in particular worries me.”

“Why’s that?”

Zane hesitated for a moment, contemplating on whether or not he should tell Cole about Swift’s visions. He shook his head. “It just seems very powerful.”

“Well, we won’t be able to defeat her by sitting around,” Cole stated, “I still think we should see her.”

Zane thought for a moment before nodding. “Ok, we’ll go later.”

______________________________________________

“As a fusion, it is important to remember that you are you’re own person, but still you are made of components,” Wu explained, “You can use your components to make yourself stronger, or you can let them break you apart.”

“You don’t need to worry Master, I’m not gonna fall apart any time soon,” Fleet assured, “Now, can you show me how to do the blue fire thing?”

“Patience is important, Fleet,” Wu continued, “Something you will have to learn.”

Fleet crossed his arms, pouting slightly. “How long is this training gonna take?”

“It depends on how fast you learn.”

“I’m a fast learner! I learned how to use my true potential powers almost instantly!”

Wu shook his head. “That is different. You’re true potential form fills you with power. Power that may seem foreign at first, but is something you always had to begin with.”

“Wait, so by that logic, shouldn’t I just be able to create blue fire? Shouldn’t that be a power I’ve had all along?”

“You’re going too fast. You must slow down, take some time to learn about your emotions.”

“Emotions? What do my emotions have to do with this?”

“You ask too many questions.”

“Well maybe I wouldn’t ask so many questions if you would answer them,” Fleet murmured. Wu smacked the fusion on the head with his staff. "OW!"

“Respect is also very important,” Wu said.

“You aren’t making any sense!” Fleet yelled, “I should’ve known you were gonna make this difficult!”

“I can see the anger inside you. That’s good. You must learn to harness that anger, control it.”

“My anger?” Fleet questioned.

Wu nodded. “Any strong emotion can awaken the blue flames from within, but anger is the easiest for the ability to manifest.”

“So, what you’re saying is that if I’m just really mad all the time I can use the blue fire?”

Wu shook his head and placed his hand over his face. “You are looking for the easy route. The key to unlocking this ability is not pure anger. It is being able to control that anger, control your elements together.”

“I use fire and lighting at the same time all the time,” Fleet argued.

“But you don’t use them together. If you can control your emotions, you can control your components. You can fully control your elements together. Now, concentrate on using fire and lighting together.”

Fleet took a deep breath. He held out his hands, focussing on each power. One hand began creating fire, while the other had lightning.

“Good,” Wu said, “Now, put them together.”

Fleet focussed harder, trying to use both elements in the same hand. He could feel tiny sparks trying to form. Fleet closed his eyes shut, trying to concentrate his powers. The lightbulb in the room began to flicker slightly as Fleet used his powers. Wu looked up at the flickering light and then back at Fleet. Fleet opened his eyes again when suddenly, the lightbulb shattered, causing the whole room to go dark.

“Ugh!” Fleet yelled, “This is stupid! If I can make blue fire in my true potential form, then why can’t I do it now!?”

“Patience,” Wu reminded, “But for now, I think we need to go get a new lightbulb.”

Fleet rolled his eyes before leaving the room. He stepped outside and saw that the sun was beginning to set. He stared up at the sky before noticing someone leaving the monastery.

“Techtonic?” Fleet questioned, “What are you doing?”

Techtonic turned around. “I’m going for a walk.”

“Mind if I come?” Fleet asked.

“I…” Techtonic paused for a moment. “I would prefer to go alone.”

“Oh, ok,” Fleet responded, trying not to sound disappointed. “I guess I’m busy anyway. I have to go get a new lightbulb and then I assume Master Wu is gonna make me do some more training.”

“How is your training going?” Techtonic asked.

“Good,” Fleet replied, “Well, not really. Master Wu is being cryptic as usual.”

“I’m sure you’ll figure it out,” Techtonic assured.

“Thanks, Techtonic,” Fleet smiled. He gave the fusion a hug before heading back inside. He stopped for a moment, waving goodbye. “Have a fun walk!”

Techtonic waved back. After Fleet went inside, Techtonic turned back and started heading for the city.

______________________________________________

Techtonic walked down the abandoned alleyway. It was nighttime now which would make it hard for most people to see, but the lights of Techtonic’s eyes made it easy to see where he was going. He arrived at the building Vena was waiting in. There was already a hole in the side of the building, presumably left there by Fleet. Techtonic walked in, climbing over the large pieces of rubble. He made his way through the building. Everything was dark and it was difficult for even Techtonic to see. He entered another room. As soon as he entered, the lights flashed on.

“You actually came,” Techtonic recognized Vena’s voice. She stood on the other side of the room, staring at the fusion with narrow eyes. “Did you come alone?”

“Yes,” Techtonic responded, “Do you think you’ll have an easier time fighting me if Fleet isn’t here?”

“I don’t want to fight,” Vena explained, “Like I said before, I just want to talk to you.”

“What do you want to talk about?”

“You perplex me, grey,” Vena said, “At first glance, you look like a normal nindroid. But that can’t be true. You’re a fusion, but you’re different from the others.”

“I’m not sure I’m following,” Techtonic replied.

“The point is you’re an outcast like me. But for some reason, people don’t hate you. You’re different than everyone else, all the other fusions. Logic says that people should hate you because your different. They should hate every fusion because they aren’t ‘human’.” Vena paused for a moment. “My entire life, people have been scared of me because I was ‘inhuman’. I’ve never really had many people care about me.”

“Why are you telling me this?” Techtonic asked, “You’re not trying to recruit me, are you?”

“I don’t expect you to help me, but I need to ask you something.”

The room went silent. Vena closed her eyes, Techtonic not taking his eyes off of the half snake.

“Do you know anyone named Corria Amalga?” Vena asked.

Techtonic stepped back a bit. “You mean Dr. Corria?” he questioned.

“So you know her?”

“She was a crazy scientist who tried to take over Ninjago,” Techtonic explained.

“Do you know what happened to her?” 

“No,” Techtonic admitted, “She escaped before we could send her to Kryptarium Prison.”

“That’s what I was afraid of…” Vena turned away from the fusion.

Techtonic stood quietly for a bit before speaking. “What do you want with Dr. Corria?”

Vena let out a sigh, still keeping her back to Techtonic. “Have you ever felt completely miserable? And you decide one day to just leave everything behind?”

Techtonic gave a shocked expression. “I-” he paused for a moment, grabbing his arm. “Y-yeah… I get that… You feel like the only person who cared about you is gone, so you just… leave…” Techtonic’s voice got quieter.

Vena turned back towards Techtonic. “You’ve lost someone?”

“Well… no, not really,” Techtonic explained, “Loss is just a… heavy subject for Cole and Zane.” 

Vena noticed the fusion’s saddened expression. “You’re actually showing emotions,” she pointed out, “I thought you always had a blank expression all the time.”

“This usually doesn’t happen,” Techtonic said.

“You normally hide your emotions?”

“I guess you could say that.”

“Heh,” Vena smiled slightly, “Perhaps we aren’t so different after all.” Vena turned away from Techtonic once more. “Thanks for telling me about Corria…”

“You’re trying to find her, aren’t you?”

“How’d you guess?”

“You care about her and she’s gone. Except you still have the chance for her to come back.”

“What exactly are you saying?”

“Vena, I want to help you.”

Vena’s eyes went wide. “You’re joking, right?” she asked, “You realize I’m your enemy?”

“You’re saying that like we’ve never worked with our enemies before.”

“Fair point,” Vena agreed, “But, your other ninja friends will be mad if they find out you want to help me.”

“Then I won’t tell them,” Techtonic said, “Whether you’re a villain or a hero, you don’t deserve to be alone.”

“You’re,” Vena paused, “You’re not bad, grey. I knew there was a reason I thought you were different.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This was a chapter I was excited to write. Techtonic's conversation with Vena was something I had planned out for a long time. I just really like Vena as a character. I'm definitely proud of her, but we'll get to that later. Fleet discovering his blue fire abilities is another thing I had planned for a while, I had that planned before I started coming up with the plot. Anyway, next chapter is gonna be another one I'm excited to write.


	6. Stay Calm

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Chip and Vulcan take a day to find out more about themselves

“Wake up, sleepy head!”

Cole was laying in bed. He felt a nudge on his side, so he turned and slowly opened his eyes. His vision was blurry at first and all he could see were two big blue eyes staring back at him.

“Jay?” Cole asked sleepily.

“No, silly, it’s Chip!” he replied, “Get up! We have training to do!”

Cole sat up and yawned. “This early?”

“It’s not early, you’ve just been sleeping all day,” Chip responded.

“Yeah,” Kai agreed, sitting on the other side of the room, “You and Zane were out for a long time last night. Must’ve been a really long walk, huh?”

“Walk?” Cole replied, confused, “Oh, yeah! Our walk, I remember now.”

“Alright, c’mon you two,” Chip hurried, “We have stuff we need to do!” He pulled Cole up from his bed and pushed him towards Kai.

“Wait, don’t I get to eat breakfast first?” Cole asked.

“You slept through breakfast,” Chip retorted, “Besides, you guys can eat on the way there.”

Cole turned to Kai. “On the way to what?”

Kai shrugged. “He told me it was a surprise.”

“C’mon c’mon c’mon!” Chip said impatiently.

“Alright, alright,” Cole replied. Kai stood up and the two of them formed Vulcan.

“Ok, let’s go!” Chip said, grabbing Vulcan’s arm and trying to pull him away.

“Calm down, Chip,” Vulcan said, “I’m still a little sleepy from Cole.”

“Alright,” Chip replied.

The two fusions walked out and went into the kitchen. Nya, Pixal, and Master Wu were all sitting at the table eating lunch.

“Hey, Chip,” Nya greeted.

“Hi Nya, hi Pixal!” Chip greeted back.

“Uh, hey Vulcan,” Nya said awkwardly.

Pixal leaned towards Nya. “Is he the one you were telling me about?” she asked.

Nya turned to Pixal, nodding.

Vulcan sighed. “Don’t worry, I’m just gonna grab a sandwich and then I can eat outside.”

“Vulcan, you don’t have to do that,” Chip insisted.

“It’s fine, Chip,” Vulcan assured, “I need the fresh air anyway.”

Vulcan opened the fridge and grabbed a leftover sandwich that Cole had made a couple of days ago. He bit into the slightly stale sandwich as he left the room.

“Are you guys seriously still hesitant towards Vulcan?” Chip asked, a harsh tone to his voice.

“I’m sorry, Chip,” Nya apologized, “I know you said he’s changed, but I’m still not too sure about him.”

“Nya has a point,” Wu added, “I have never seen a fusion like Vulcan attempt to change. They always stay as the destructive people they were first formed as, and it is hard to tell whether or not Vulcan will revert back to his destructive ways.”

“Well if you guys would just give him a chance,” Chip insisted.

“It’s hard to give him a chance after how much of a jerk he was to us,” Nya responded.

“He wasn’t even that mean to you!” Chip argued. He took a deep breath. “Alright, I’m just gonna go check up on Vulcan.”

Chip left the room calmly as the others watched him. Master Wu shook his head.

“There are some things about Vulcan that I still fear,” he said.

“You said that,” Nya replied, “You’re scared he might become destructive again.”

“It’s not just that,” Wu explained, “I am worried about what might happen when he unlocks his true potential.”

“What do you mean?” Pixal questioned.

“A fusion’s true potential is much more powerful than a normal elemental master’s. Power like that can be dangerous. Most fusions can handle the power, but others are more susceptible to letting the power take them over. With Vulcan’s love of strength and being powerful, I fear he might let his power overtake him.”

“Wait, so you’re saying he might go crazy with power and start destroying everything?” Nya questioned.

Wu nodded. “I fear for what could happen to Ninjago. The city would be no match for a fusion’s true potential, and with Vulcan, I don’t know who would be able to stop him.”

“Have you told him about this?” Pixal asked.

Wu didn’t answer, instead looking elsewhere to avoid eye contact.

“Master, you can hide these kinds of things from them!” Nya scolded.

“I know,” Wu replied, “I just… don’t know how to tell them. I don’t want them to be afraid of their true potential. All their other fusions are stable, and I have no fear of them losing control. Vulcan is the only one that I fear.”

“You should tell them,” Nya said.

“I know,” Wu sighed, “I know.”

______________________________________________

“How are you doing?” Chip asked.

Vulcan finished eating the last of his sandwich. He shrugged. “I don’t know, fine I guess.”

“Hey, it’s gonna be ok. They’ll come around eventually,” Chip assured.

“Easy for you to say,” Vulcan replied, “They love you. You like a perfect angel who can't do anything wrong.”

“I wouldn’t say that exactly,” Chip said, “I almost got really mad at them until I left,” Chip looked down quietly for a bit. “Ok, enough of that, we should get going!”

“Where exactly are we going?” Vulcan asked.

“We’re going to Ninjago City to hang out!”

“Hang out? I thought we were gonna do some training,”

“We are gonna be training,” Chip responded, “Today, we’re gonna figure out your problems so we can unlock your true potential!”

Vulcan gave a skeptical look. “I thought Master Wu told us we can’t force our true potentials to happen.”

“Psh, what does Master Wu know? He’s wrong about a lot of things,” Chip said, “Now c’mon, let’s go!”

They arrived in the city.

“So, what do you wanna do first?” Chip asked.

“I don’t know, what do you wanna do?” 

“Don’t worry about what I wanna do, we’re trying to find  _ your  _ true potential not mine.”

“But-”

“No buts!” Chip interrupted, “What I want is irrelevant! Today is about you!”

“Uhh,” Vulcan thought, “I got nothing.”

“Ok, then I guess we can go to the library,” Chip suggested.

“The library? Ugh, that sounds boring,” Vulcan retorted.

“Well, you didn’t choose anything so no complaining.”

The two of them headed to the library. They walked inside, Chip had a big smile on his face while Vulcan had his arms crossed. The two walked up to an empty table.

“Alright, you stay here and I’ll go look for some books to read,” Chip ordered.

“Wow, reading, sounds fun,” Vulcan replied sarcastically.

“I know! Reading IS fun!” Chip said happily before walking away.

Vulcan placed his arms on the table and rested his head on his hand. He looked around at all the cheesy, ‘Reading is Cool!’ posters placed on the walls. He noticed there were a lot of people at the library today. He sighed. It wasn’t exactly that he hated reading. It wasn’t something he really did, but he didn’t actually hate it. He just hated the silence of the library. Vulcan was always loud in everything he did, so he kind of hated the absolute silence.

Vulcan looked over at a group sitting at another table. They were watching him, and as soon as Vulcan looked over, they hid behind their books in a panic. Vulcan grabbed his arm nervously. He noticed all the people looked uncomfortable, which made Vulcan feel uncomfortable. He tried to hide away by putting his face of the table, hiding from everyone. He was disrupted by his attempted escape by a SLAM on the table. He looked up and saw Chip had come back with a large pile of books.

“I got a pretty good selection,” Chip said happily, “I tried to pick out some that you might like. Here!”

He handed Vulcan a book. Vulcan looked at the cover. “The Encyclopedia of Volcanoes?”

“It reminded me of you,” Chip smiled.

“Look, Chip, I’m not sure about this,” Vulcan said, setting the book down.

“Oh, c’mon, just give it a try. I went through all this time to pick out these books.”

“Chip, people keep staring at me,” Vulcan explained.

Chip looked around. Everyone was still hiding behind their books.

“Oh, Vulcan, they’re just reading. They’re not looking at you,” Chip assured.

“Well they  _ were  _ looking at me.”

“But they’re not anymore! C’mon, maybe reading about volcanoes will help you figure out how to unlock your true potential!”

Vulcan sighed and opened the book. “'Volcanoes are known for erupting,'” he read, “'They erupt when the magma rises to the surface. It’s as if the volcano can no longer hold its frustration and finally let’s it out, destroying the land and overall just making people hate it when they erupt.'”

Chip started giving an uncomfortable look as Vulcan read.

“Wait, this is an encyclopedia?” Vulcan questioned, “It isn’t written like one, it just keeps talking about how you never want a volcano to erupt because how it can hurt people. I think there’s a little bit of bias put into this.”

“Ok you can stop reading it now,” Chip said, pushing the book down.

“Really? Cause I think it’s kinda funny,” Vulcan replied, “Like right here, it’s acting like the volcano is a person. ‘The volcano got angry and erupted, destroying its friendship with the neighboring land.’ Like, who comes up with this stuff?”

Chip grabbed the book from Vulcan’s hand. “Volcanoes are dumb anyway, you probably already know everything about them. How about this book?”

“Anger Management for Beginners?” Vulcan questioned.

Chip gave Vulcan an awkward smile.

Vulcan chuckled. “Please, as if  _ I  _ need anger management.” he laughed again, “Maybe this’ll be helpful.”

“Wait no, don’t read that either!” Chip grabbed the book away, “That was rude of me to suggest that, I’m sorry.”

“What? No, Chip, that book could’ve actually been helpful,” Vulcan argued.

“No! I want you to be happy, and this book will just point out your problems!” Chip retorted.

“What’s the point of coming here if you won’t even let me read any of the stupid books you brought me?” Vulcan asked with an angry tone.

“They aren’t all stupid books, just these two!” Chip stated.

Vulcan rolled his eyes. “You know what, maybe we should just go somewhere else.” He stood up.

“No, I picked out all these books for you!” 

“Well, I don’t want to read them.” Vulcan started walking out of the library. Chip got up and started running after him. 

Vulcan got outside when Chip jumped in front of him.

“Vulcan, you’re being rude!” Chip scolded.

“How am I being rude?” Vulcan questioned, “You brought me to the library when I didn’t even want to come here in the first place!”

“I brought you here to help you,” Chip responded, “The least you could do is thank me for it.”

“Thank you?” Vulcan asked, “You’re not being helpful AT ALL! You didn’t even let me read the book I actually wanted to read to try and help my anger issues!”

“You don’t need a dumb book to help you with your anger issues, you have me for that!”

“Well, you sure are being really helpful with that, aren’t you?” Vulcan replied, rolling his eyes.

“You know, I think the reason the others still don’t like you is because you don’t know how to keep your mouth shut when you’re angry, which you seem to be angry quite a lot!” Chip yelled.

Vulcan flinched.

Chip looked up at him, instantly regretting his choice of words. “No, what I mean is-”

“Can it,” Vulcan interrupted him, “I know what you meant. You keep doing this kind of stuff. I should be getting used to you manipulating me to get me to be a ‘good person’ in your eyes.”

“Manipulating?” Chip questioned, “I’m not manipulating you, I’m helping you!”

“Oh please,” Vulcan retorted, “You constantly try to make me feel bad for you! Saying, ‘Oh, but I did all of this stuff for you!’ You don’t have to point out every single nice thing you do for me!”

“Well, you know, I don’t have to do all those nice things for you! I could’ve just let you be a huge jerk all the time, but no, I decided to help you become a better person.”

“YOU’RE DOING IT AGAIN!” Vulcan yelled, “Good job, you helped me become a better person, now I can see how terrible YOU are!”

Chip turned away from Vulcan, taking some deep breaths. “Look, I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to get mad, I just got a little carried away.”

“Carried away?” Vulcan asked, “What the fuck does that mean?”

“I’m sorry for being angry, ok?” Chip apologized, turning back to Vulcan, “I got mad, and it made you mad and I’m sorry. I keep telling myself not to be mad, but sometimes I just let it out on accident.”

“Accident? You can just accidentally get angry, it's ok to get angry about things.”

“No it’s not ok!” Chip argued, “Whenever someone gets upset, it just makes other people upset!” Chip sighed. “I… I’m gonna go for a walk. I can see you probably want some space.”

“No, Chip, wait,” Vulcan reached out, but before he could touch Chip, a small spark shocked him, causing him to pull his arm away. Vulcan watched Chip walk away. “Fine. Leave me alone. It’s what I deserve.” Vulcan began walking away in the opposite direction.

Chip made his way to the middle of the city. He looked at the statue of Zane that still stood after all these years. Chip sighed. “Zane is such a great person, why am I so terrible?” Chip shook his head. “I’m not- er, Zane’s not that perfect. He has issues too…” Chip’s communication device started beeping, so he answered it.

“Chip?” Nya spoke.

“Nya, what is it?”

“We got some signals about something going on in the city. It looked like dark magic, and a large amount of it.” Nya explained.

“I haven’t seen anything out of the ordinary,” Chip replied, “Where’d you find the signals?”

“Near the library.”

“Oh no,” Chip responded quietly.

“Chip? What is it?” Nya asked.

“I got to go,” Chip hung up before Nya could say anything else. He quickly ran back towards the library.

______________________________________________

Vulcan continued walking away. The people around him avoided him, walking as far away as possible. Vulcan tried to ignore them, but couldn’t help but feel sad by everyone’s fear of him. Vulcan sighed, stopping and looking up at the sky.

“Why can’t I make him understand?” he asked himself, “He made me better, why can’t I make  _ him  _ better?”

Vulcan heard some people start to scream behind him.

“Ok, ok, I get it, everyone’s afraid of me,” he said, turning around. As he turned around, he saw they weren’t screaming at him, instead they were screaming at a shadowy blob that started to form. It turned into a monstrous form with shadowy claws and tentacles coming off of its body.

“What the!?” Vulcan said. The shadow attacked the fusion, shooting its tentacles at him. One of them grabbed Vulcan’s arm, but he retaliated by shooting a ball of fire at it with his other arm. The shadow flinched, retracting it’s tentacle. It rushed towards Vulcan, but he jumped out of the way, causing the shadow to crash into a wall. The shadow turned around and swung a claw towards Vulcan. It slammed onto the ground, pinning Vulcan down. The shadow started to bleed onto Vulcan’s skin, going up his arms. Vulcan attempted to break free from the shadow’s grasp, but it was too strong. Suddenly, a bolt of lightning hit the shadow, causing it to stumble back, freeing Vulcan.

“Vulcan!”

Vulcan looked over and saw Chip, tears in his eyes. Vulcan slowly got up.

“Hey, Chip, I-” Vulcan was cut off by Chip running up and hugging him.

“Vulcan, I’m sorry! I’m sorry for being a terrible person, I’m sorry I manipulated you, I’m sorry I got mad!” The words rushed out of Chip’s mouth, tears rolling down his face.

“Hey, it’s ok,” Vulcan replied. He grabbed Chip’s face and turned it towards his, “Admitting you were wrong is the first step to getting better.”

Chip sniffled before smiling at Vulcan, a massive stream of tears still pouring from his eyes.

“And hey, don’t apologize for being mad, it’s healthy to be angry sometimes.”

Chip chuckled, “Alright.”

The shadow made a growling noise, causing the two fusions to turn back towards it. They got back into a battle stance, preparing to continue the fight. The shadow lunged towards them. Vulcan quickly summoned his axe and sliced the shadow in half. The halves went flying behind Chip and Vulcan. They lay on the ground, not moving.

“Huh, that was easy,” Vulcan pointed out.

“Hold on,” Chip said.

The shadows moved together as if they were being pulled by a magnet. The shadowy creature formed again, standing back up. 

Chip summoned his slingshot and shot at the shadow, but it didn’t seem affected. It completely ignored Chip and went straight for Vulcan. It attempted to grab him with its tentacles, but Vulcan jumped out of the way.

“Why is it only fighting me?” Vulcan asked.

“I don’t know,” Chip replied, “Maybe it knows you’re stronger than me.”

The shadow managed to back Vulcan into a wall. It shot out all its tentacles and wrapped them around him. It grabbed Vulcan and made a strange sound to signify it was pleased. It started to walk away with the fusion, but Chip tried to stop it by clinging to its arm.

“Let him go!” Chip yelled.

“Chip! It’ll be-” Vulcan was cut off when one of the tentacles covered his mouth.

The shadow threw Chip off of its arm, sending him flying towards a wall. He crashed and fell to the ground. He started to get up, opening his eyes and seeing the shadow leave again. It got into a sprint, running away before Chip could attack.

“No!” Chip yelled, "No no no no no!” He slammed his fist onto the ground. “This is all my fault! If I hadn’t gotten mad at Vulcan, if I just pretended to be happy, if I…” Chip sighed. “No, I can’t beat myself up about this. It’s ok to be upset.” Chip stood up. “And right now, I’m very upset with that shadow.” 

Chip’s body started to glow. The sky started to turn cloudy, the bright day starting to turn gloomy. Chip’s body became engulfed in light until finally, the light burst, turning Chip’s body as white as snow. A storm cloud formed around his head, and lightning markings formed on his body, surrounding a cloud on his chest. Chip rose up into the air, levitating off the ground. A loud CRASH came from the sky. Chip glared before speeding down the street, flying at lightning speeds.

The shadow continued to carry Vulcan. Vulcan looked up at the sky, confused by its sudden cloudiness. 

“Hey!”

Vulcan looked over, taken aback by the furious voice he heard.

“Let him go!” Chip demanded as he flew straight towards the shadow. He crashed into the side of the shadow, causing it to drop Vulcan on the ground. A hole formed in the shadow where Chip had flown through it.

“Chip?” Vulcan questioned.

Chip didn’t respond. Instead, he shot a massive blast of lighting at the shadow. It screamed in agony as it got shocked. Chip stopped the lightning, giving the shadow no time to rest before shooting a massive shard of ice through the shadow. The sky boomed again as hail began to fall from the clouds.

Vulcan looked up confused before looking back at Chip.

Chip was showing absolutely no mercy towards the shadow. It was completely broken into tiny pieces at this point. The bits of shadow were being pelted by hail, other parts getting electrocuted by Chip. The shadow was completely obliterated, Chip making sure no trace of it was left.

Chip laughed. “I had no idea destroying things was so fun!”

“Heh, I know right?” Vulcan smiled, “People really underestimate the satisfaction of breaking things like pencils and-”

Vulcan was interrupted by a loud ZAP noise. He watched as Chip shot lightning at a nearby pole, knocking it over. Chip started laughing again.

“Uhh, ok Chip, you beat the evil shadow creature, you can stop now,” Vulcan said.

“What are you talking about? I’m just getting started with this!” Chip replied. He shot out some ice at a different pole, sending it flying. Vulcan watched in horror as the pole went flying towards a nearby child. The child started screaming in terror. Luckily, Vulcan was able to run in and catch the pole before it hit the child. He threw it off to the side and turned to the kid.

“You need to get out of here,” Vulcan ordered.

“Wh-what about Chip?” the kid asked, “Why is he destroying stuff?”

Vulcan turned to Chip and watched as he kept attacking everything near him.

“I-I’ll take care of it,” Vulcan replied nervously, “But you need to get to safety.”

The kid nodded before running off.

“Chip!” Vulcan yelled, “What are you doing?”

Chip paused before turning to Vulcan. “You know Vulcan, I get it now! All this power, it feels so great! I can destroy anything I want!”

“Chip, you have to stop! You’re gonna hurt innocent people!” Vulcan pleaded.

Chip let out a laugh. “So what? Who’s gonna stop me!?”

Vulcan stepped back a bit, scared by the things Chip was saying. Vulcan looked around at all the destruction Chip had already caused in a short time. He sighed.

“I will.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is probably the most happy I've felt with a chapter. Just, the entire time writing it, I've felt happy with how it was turning out.   
So, now we have two true potential's shown. I wonder who will be next... (I mean I know, but you guys don't yet)   
Also I just wanna say that I love Vulcan's character so much. He is definitely my second favorite fusion because of his development. AAAAAA He's just great and I'm rambling now


	7. A Storm in the City

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Vulcan has to figure out hoe to deal with Chip's rampage before he destroys the city.

Vulcan jumped out of the way as Chip shot an ice blast towards him. Chip shot a blast of lightning, and Vulcan created a wall of earth to block the blast. Chip continued shooting lightning until the wall crumbled, sending Vulcan back.

“Chip, listen to me!” Vulcan yelled, “You have to stop this!” 

“I don’t want to!” Chip shouted, “I finally know how it feels to be powerful! I never knew I needed this feeling until now!”

“You may feel great about it now, but trust me, you’ll regret it later,” Vulcan tried to reason with the fusion.

Chip laughed, “That’s future me’s problem.”

Chip attacked with another blast of lightning. Vulcan ran and turned the corner, hiding behind a wall. He looked at the stormy sky. Hail was still falling, but it seemed to be avoiding the area that he and Chip were fighting in.

“When I told him it was ok to be upset, I didn’t mean this!”

Vulcan pulled out his communication device, hoping the weather wouldn’t affect the signal.

“Nya?” he called, “Nya, can you hear me?”

“There’s some static, but I can hear you,” Nya responded, “What’s going on? The weather suddenly turned terrible!”

“It’s Chip,” Vulcan explained, “He unlocked his true potential, but then he started going crazy! He’s destroying the city!”

“Oh, that kinda sounds like what Master Wu was telling me and Pixal about,” Nya said.

“Wait, what are you talking about?” Vulcan asked.

“He didn’t tell you guys because he was scared,” Nya explained, “But he told us some fusions can’t handle the power of their true potential. He was scared about you losing control, but I guess it looks like that’s what happened to Chip.”

Vulcan went quiet for a moment.

“Vulcan? Are you still there?” Nya asked.

“GOD FUCKING DANMIT WU!” Vulcan yelled.

Suddenly, a spike of ice shot out of the ground next to Vulcan.

“Found you!” Chip giggled, smiling at Vulcan.

“Nya, I need backup!” Vulcan ordered into the communication device.

“Alright, we’ll be there as soon as we can!” Nya assured. The communication device clicked.

“Chip, I don’t want to fight you,” Vulcan said.

“And here I thought you would be more fun,” Chip replied, sounding disappointed. Chip floated down to Vulcan. “Why do you hate fun, Vulcan? I just wanna destroy everything, is that so wrong?”

“Yes, it is wrong!”

“Liar! You tried to do the same thing!” Chip looked as if he was charging another attack. Vulcan quickly slipped past Chip, running back into the opening. “Get back here!” Chip shouted. He rose back into the air and flew towards Vulcan. 

Vulcan looked back as he ran away. Chip was quickly catching up to him.

“I figured you of all people would understand!” Chip yelled. He flew in, spinning around before kicking Vulcan in the side, knocking him over. “I thought you’d be the one person who would be proud of me! You wanted me to be mad, and now you’re telling me I’m wrong!”

“I told you that it was ok to be mad, not that it was ok to destroy the city!”

“Please, this city has been destroyed plenty of times. It’ll survive.”

“That’s no excuse!”

“Oh, shut up!” Chip retaliated. He shot some ice at Vulcan, but he quickly rolled out of the way. “Stop acting like you’re better than me when you’re just as bad as I am!”

Vulcan tried to shoot a fireball at Chip, but he swiftly dismissed it with some ice. 

“Maybe you’re just upset that I’m stronger now,” Chip stated, “You always did like talking about how strong you were. Maybe now that I’ve put you in your place, you feel weak.”

Vulcan looked at Chip in disbelief. He shook his head. He closed his eyes and put his head down.

Chip giggled softly. He placed his hand gently on Vulcan’s face. Vulcan’s eyes shot open as Chip’s frigid hand touched his cheek. “You really are oblivious sometimes,” he said in a calming voice. He gave Vulcan a smile that made him shiver. “I know you long to feel powerful again. And I know you don’t want to fight me, and to be honest, I don’t want to fight you either,” Chip said, “So why don’t we just destroy this city together? I know we could do it. No one would stand a chance against us.”

Vulcan looked away, not wanting to look at Chip’s face. 

_ He’s just trying to mess with us,  _ Cole reasoned.

_ Well he’s doing a good job at it!  _ Kai argued.

Vulcan violently shook his head. “No, I won’t do this. I can’t let you destroy the city!”

Chip stepped back. He looked down, his body lifting off of the ground. He laughed, his body becoming surrounded in electricity. “I guess I’m the dumb one for thinking you would make the smart choice, huh?”

Before Chip could attack, he felt something wrap around his body, knocking him down onto the ground. 

“What the?” Chip questioned as he lay on the ground, trapped in a net.

Vulcan looked up and saw Nya along with Pixal in her Samurai X mech.

“Sorry for the wait,” Nya apologized.

“It’s fine,” Vulcan assured, standing up. He started walking over to join the two of them. Chip managed to roll over, turning to look at Nya and Pixal. He felt an anger surge through his body, lightning sparking off of himself.

“Woah, what’s he doing?” Nya asked.

Chip ripped the net apart with a large blast of lightning. He rose back into the air, pure fury on his face. 

The wind began to get stronger, hail pelting down even harder than before.

“We need to run,” Vulcan realized.

“I’ll hold him off, you two go,” Pixal ordered.

Vulcan and Nya nodded, running off. Chip attempted to fly after them, but Pixal used her mech to smack him back.

Vulcan and Nya found a safe place to catch their breath.

“What’s gotten into him?” Nya questioned, “I’ve seen him upset before, but not like this!”

“Same here,” Vulcan agreed, “I never knew he could even GET this angry!”

“Maybe it’s all that power,” Nya suggested, “That seems to be how Master Wu described it.”

“I don’t think it’s just that,” Vulcan disagreed, “There has to be something more to it. I know Chip, he wouldn’t do this without a good reason.”

The two ninja heard a loud noise as Pixal’s mech crashed into a wall. Chip flew towards the crashed mech, but quickly turned his head towards Nya and Vulcan. He flew towards them angrily.

Vulcan stepped in front of Nya. “It’s me you want! Don’t hurt her.”

Chip pushed Vulcan out of his way. “I don’t want to hurt you anymore.” he replied, not even looking at Vulcan. His gaze was fixed on Nya, his eyes narrowing.

Nya stared at Chip, the look of horror in her eyes.

Chip shot a blast of lightning at Nya, sending her crashing into the wall. She slowly got up, and Chip started blasting her with ice, slowly freezing her.

“What do you want with Nya!?” Vulcan questioned, “What did she ever do to you!?”

“She ALWAYS underestimated me! Her and Lloyd! They never took me seriously!” Chip yelled. “They never listened to me! NO ONE did!”

The ice was almost up to Nya’s shoulders at this point. Chip continued glaring at the water ninja as he froze her. Suddenly, Chip’s attack was halted when he was hit by a giant boulder. He crashed to the ground. Vulcan stared at Chip with narrow eyes as he lay there. Vulcan ran over to Nya, thawing the ice to free her. 

“Thanks,” Nya said as Vulcan freed her.

“Don’t mention it,” Vulcan replied. He turned back to Chip.

Chip looked up at Vulcan, his body shaking slightly as Vulcan walked up to him.

“I thought you didn’t want to fight me,” Chip said, a slight harshness to his tone.

“I don’t want to fight you,” Vulcan assured, “But you’ve gone too far, Chip.”

Chip looked away from Vulcan. “So what are you gonna do? Are you gonna make me unfuse? Make sure Zane and Jay never form me again?”

“Chip, I’m sorry,” Vulcan apologized.

Chip’s face turned to shock. He looked back up at Vulcan.

“This whole time, you were upset, but you couldn’t let yourself feel upset,” Vulcan continued, “You’ve been bottling it up this whole time.”

“No, stop!” Chip yelled, wrapping his arms around himself.

“Chip, it’s ok, I’m here for you.”

“Stop it, STOP IT!” Chip continued yelling. He felt icy tears starting to form in his eyes.

“Chip…” Vulcan reached his arm out, placing it on Chip’s shoulder.

“STOP!” Chip yelled once more. He let out a giant blast from his body. It hit Vulcan, sending him flying across the area. He landed roughly on the ground, his gi becoming slightly ripped.

Chip stared at Vulcan’s injured body, his face full of terror. 

“VULCAN!” Chip yelled. 

Suddenly, the sky began to clear. Pixal and Nya both watched as Chip’s body started fading back to normal. He sat on the ground, his entire body shaky and tears in his eyes. He covered his face and curled up, tears falling onto the ground as Chip quietly cried to himself. 

Vulcan slowly got up, looking up at the sunny sky before turning to look at Chip. Chip had gotten louder with his crying, Vulcan being able to hear it from a distance. Vulcan stood up and started walking over to the other fusion. 

“Vulcan,” Nya said quietly, reaching her arm out slightly, but Vulcan walked straight past her. 

Chip looked up as Vulcan stood over him, going silent while the tears still fell down his cheeks. Vulcan sat down next to Chip and wrapped his arms around him.

“It’s gonna be ok,” Vulcan assured, holding Chip close to his body.

Chip sniffled a bit before fully breaking down, grasping onto Vulcan. Nya and Pixal both watched, unsure of how to handle the situation.

“I’m sorry,” Chip managed to say through his tears, “I hurt you! I-I swear… I swear I didn’t mean the things I said to you.”

“It’s ok,” Vulcan reassured, “We all say things we don’t mean to.”

“I just-” Chip continued, “I was so tired of holding in my feelings that I…” Chip paused to continue crying some more, “I’m sorry…”

“I’m sorry, too,” Vulcan replied, “I didn’t realize how much you needed someone to listen to you,” Vulcan finally released Chip from the hug. “I had no idea how much pain you were in.”

Chip looked up at Vulcan, his eyes still full of tears, “I didn’t want you to worry about me,” Chip explained, “I’m not worth it, I’m not worth the effort.”

“Don’t ever say that!” Vulcan responded with a slightly harsh tone, “Chip, you’re amazing! Don’t ever believe that you aren’t worth anything.”

Chip stared at Vulcan silently. He looked over as Nya walked up to them.

“I… I need to apologize to you two,” she said, “Chip, I’m so sorry I didn’t take you seriously when you wanted to help Vulcan. And Vulcan, I… I’m sorry I didn’t trust you.”

Vulcan put his hand on Nya’s shoulder. “Hey, it’s all good,” he assured her.

Chip smiled, his tears finally starting to calm down. He felt his body shift into light for a small moment, causing his body some pain as he held himself together.

“I-I think we should head back,” Chip suggested.

“Good idea,” Nya agreed. She held out her hand and helped Chip up. He was a little weak and struggled to walk, so Nya helped him with that.

Vulcan stood up, but didn’t follow at first. Pixal walked up, standing next to him.

“So, that is what a fully powered fusion is capable of,” Pixal said.

“Yeah,” Vulcan agreed. His face turned a bit worried. “Master Wu said that type of reaction could happen to any fusion, right?”

“He said that only happens with some fusions,” Pixal corrected, “He was worried about that happening to you, but he was completely unaware of Chip being capable of that.”

Vulcan didn’t respond. He continued watching as Chip and Nya walked away.

“Well, we better catch up to them,” Pixal said.

“Y-yeah,” Vulcan agreed. He watched Pixal leave to catch up with the others. He hesitated, looking down at his hands. He shook his head and followed Pixal.

______________________________________________

It was the next day, Vena was sitting in a secret cave hidden somewhere away from the city. 

“That plan failed miserably,” she mumbled to herself.

She heard someone enter the cave through the hidden force field she had created. She looked over as Techtonic walked into the main area.

“Took you long enough, grey,” Vena said.

“Sorry, I had trouble finding your hidden cave,” Techtonic apologized, “Oh, and you don’t have to call me grey. You can call me Techtonic.”

“Would you prefer that?” 

Techtonic shrugged, “I don’t care, it’s whatever you like.”

Vena gave Techtonic a strange look before turning back. She had what looked to be a mirror she created from her magic.

“What’s that for?” Techtonic asked.

“I’m working on a map,” Vena explained, “I’ve learned about a magical stone that can create a portal to anyone you want to find.”

“Is that how you’re going to find Dr. Corria?” Techtonic asked.

“Yep.”

The room was quiet for a little bit.

“You never actually told me why you wanted to find her,” Techtonic pointed out.

Vena turned towards Techtonic, giving him a questioning look.

“You don’t have to tell me if you don’t want to,” Techtonic assured.

“No, it’s fine just…” Vena paused, “She was kinda, my only friend when I was younger. But then I had to leave her and I wasn’t able to find her again. I never really had any friends other than her.”

Techtonic looked at Vena, noticing her face started to look slightly uncomfortable. Her tail began to twitch slightly.

“You can always make more friends,” Techtonic pointed out.

“Please, just because you’re helping me doesn’t mean we’re friends,” Vena hissed.

“I didn’t say that.”

Vena rolled her eyes. “Look, you’re still a fusion. I’m still not too fond of you.”

“I could unfuse if it would make you more comfortable,” Techtonic offered.

“You don’t have to do that,” Vena responded, “It’s much easier to keep track of one person rather than two.”

Techtonic blinked at Vena.

“Alright, if you’re just gonna stand there, at least be useful!” Vena yelled, “Go grab my spell book from over there.”

Techtonic looked over to a book sitting on a table. He walked over and grabbed it, looking at the complex symbols drawn on the cover. 

“You’re really proficient in dark magic,” Techtonic said as he handed her the book.

“I’ve been learning ever since I was little,” Vena explained, “I always did find magic much more interesting than things like science.” 

Techtonic just gave a simple nod in response.

“Look, I’ve told you about my life, why don’t you talk about yours?” Vena asked.

“Oh, ok,” Techtonic replied. He thought for a moment, looking around the cave.

“Anything?”

“Fleet got captured by Dr. Corria once,” Techtonic explained.

“I asked about you, not your dumb little friend.”

“Oh, I saved him.” Techtonic finished.

“Really that’s it? Nothing else?”

“Fleet went to go save Nya because we wouldn’t listen when Kai was concerned about her,” Techtonic continued, “Cole and Zane were mad afterwards, but everything worked out.”

“Ok, look, I don’t care about-”

“Then after Corria was defeated, there were still rogue nindroids we had to fight,” Techtonic completely ignored Vena, “Fleet did an amazing job fighting all the nindroids, but no one acknowledged him. He was upset about it and I didn’t know until I found him brooding in the woods. Then he kissed me.”

“I DON’T CARE ABOUT FLEET!” Vena yelled, “I asked about YOU, not that stupid purple fusion!”

Techtonic stared at Vena, no emotion in his face. “I was in those stories.”

“Don’t you have any stories only involving you?”

Techtonic stared at Vena for a while. “I cut a carrot in half for dinner one time.”

“Ok, nevermind, your life is boring,” Vena retorted, turning her focus back to making her map. 

Techtonic looked around again. He saw a magical clock on the wall and realized it was later than he thought it was.

“Oh, I should be heading back,” Techtonic stated, “I’ve been gone longer than I realized.”

“You haven’t even been here that long.”

“I was looking for this place for multiple hours,” Techtonic explained.

“Alright, fair,” Vena shrugged. 

Techtonic started to leave, but stopped for a moment. “It was fun talking to you,” he said, his voice still completely emotionless.

Vena blinked in surprise. She looked back towards Techtonic, but noticed he was already gone. She rolled her eyes. “Focus, Vena,” she told herself, “He’s a fusion. Don’t forget that.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Oof, fight scenes are difficult to write...  
I loved writing the scene where Chip breaks down crying. I just really liked the dialogue in that scene. Also just Vulcan in general. I just love Vulcan.  
And Techtonic I trying his best to socialize


	8. Hidden Secrets

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Zane and Cole are hiding something from the others, and Kai starts to get suspicious of his teammates.

“Focus, Fleet,” 

Master Wu was sitting to the side as the purple fusion stood, controlling a flame in the middle of the training area. His face was full of focus as he tried to change the flame blue. 

“You must focus on each power separately in order to use them together,” Wu continued. 

Fleet tried to use his lightning with the fire, but continued to struggle. He closed his eyes tight, trying to concentrate more.

“Ugh, this is hopeless!” Fleet yelled, turning around, “I’ll never be able to make blue fire!”

“Don’t give up too quickly, Fleet,” Wu assured.

“Please, I’ll never be able to pull it off! How sure are you that this is actually something I can do?” Fleet questioned.

“I have physical proof,” Wu stated, gesturing his hand.

Confused, Fleet turned around. He saw that the fire was still going, except now it had turned blue. Fleet gasped.

“I did it?” He asked, “I did it! I did it!” Fleet started to jump excitedly.

“Concentrate, Fleet,” Wu ordered, “If you lose your focus, the blue will fade.”

Fleet nodded and turned back to the flame. He gave a very concentrated look, putting all of his focus into keeping the flame blue. 

“Maybe not that much concentration,” Wu advised, “If you try too hard, you won’t be able to keep your mind open to other things.”

“What are you saying exactly?” Fleet asked, not taking his eyes off of the flame.

Wu sighed, “It is important to keep focus while keeping other things in mind. But you also can’t get distracted.”

“Psh, when do I ever get distracted?” Fleet asked. Suddenly, he saw someone walk past him out of the corner of his eye. “Oh, Techtonic!” Fleet cheered, quickly ignoring the fire.

Wu let out another sigh, standing up. “We’ll continue your training later,” he said, walking inside.

“Where are you going?” Fleet asked.

“I’m just going out on a-” Techtonic started.

Fleet sighed, “A secret mission?”

Techtonic nodded.

“You’ve been going on a lot of these ‘secret missions’ lately,” Fleet stated, “I feel like we haven’t been able to hang out at all. I’ve been busy with my training, and you keep leaving all the time.”

“I know, I’m sorry,” Techtonic apologized, “But this is important.”

“You never explained what you’re doing on these secret missions.” 

“That’s because it’s a secret.”

“Fair point,” Fleet looked off to the side, a disappointed look on his face.

“Fleet, I have to go,” Techtonic said.

“Yeah,” Fleet replied, “You probably have more important things to do, huh?”

The two fusions hugged before Techtonic left. Fleet watched him leave, holding his arms nervously. Fleet looked at the ground before turning around and walking inside. He walked over to the couch and sat down, placing his head in his hands.

“He’s just busy,” Fleet reassured himself.

He heard the door open as Nya walked inside. 

“Hey, Fleet,” she greeted, “You done with training already?”

“Oh, yeah, I guess,” Fleet shrugged.

Nya stared at the fusion, slight confusion on her face. She sat down next to him.

“Is something bothering you?” she asked.

Fleet hesitated for a moment before turning to Nya. “Do you think Techtonic likes me?”

Nya was taken aback at first. “Fleet, of course he likes you! You two are dating, why wouldn’t he like you?”

“I know, I know,” Fleet said, “But… he keeps going on these ‘secret missions’ and I’m worried. Do you think he’s avoiding me?”

“Fleet, that makes no sense,” Nya retorted, “That’s not like Techtonic at all. I mean sure, he’s never told us what exactly these missions are, but he’s a good guy. Whatever he’s doing, I’m sure he has a good reason for it.”

“Yeah,” Fleet smiled, “You have a point.”

______________________________________________

“Woah, grey, that was intense,” Vena said.

She was testing out a new spell to make a new type of shadow creature to do her bidding. Her most recent attempt was a failure and tried to attack, but Techtonic had quickly summoned his crossbow and shot the creature, taking it out in one blow.

Techronic shrugged, “The ninja deal with a lot of weird things,” he explained, “You get to the point where this kind of stuff just becomes a reflex.”

“Yeah, the ninja are pretty cool in that aspect,” Vena agreed.

Techtonic turned to her. “That’s a strange thing to say about the enemy,” he pointed out.

“I didn’t always hate the ninja,” Vena said, “Well, I still don’t really  _ hate  _ the ninja, just the idea of their fusions.”

“Why do you hate the fusions?”

“Are you kidding me?” Vena questioned, “Have you even seen me? I’m half human, half snake. I’M a fusion, and it’s disgusting!”

Techtonic tilted his head slightly. “I’m not following.”

“Don’t you think it’s wrong to have two different things mashed together?” Vena asked, “It’s abnormal.” She sighed, grabbing her arm. 

Techtonic watched her silently for a while. “I know you say you’re a fusion, but your case is different.”

“Yeah, I know,” Vena replied with an edge to her voice, “I’m stuck this way. You have the choice to separate. But then you always come back again. It’s stupid.”

“Stupid?”

“I don’t know!” Vena snapped. “Don’t you ever wish you could just be you forever? Isn’t it scary to think about how if something happens to Cole or Zane and they can’t fuse together anymore that in a way, you’ll be dead?”

Techtonic shrugged. “I never thought of that.”

“Can you even call yourself your own person?” There was no malice in Vena’s voice.

Techtonic turned around. “I… I guess I don’t really know who I am,” he replied, “I never took the time to think about myself before.”

“Well you made that obvious during our last in depth talk.”

Techtonic turned back to Vena. “What are you talking about?”

“I asked about your life and you only talked about Fleet,” Vena explained, “You seem to care more about that annoying shorty than yourself.”

“He’s better than me,” Techtonic explained, “He’s so passionate about everything he does. He’s able to express so much at once.”

Vena looked at Techtonic with a confused look. “How I see it, people don’t care about you unless you have something to give them. Even now, I assume you’ve been telling the others all about my plans, huh?”

“No,” Techtonic said, “I told you I wasn’t going to tell them. I haven’t told them anything.”

“Haven’t they been able to figure it out?” Vena questioned, “When you fuse, you share memories, right? Wouldn’t one of the others be able to learn about this by fusing with Cole or Zane?”

“We get to pick and choose which memories we share,” Techtonic explained, “So you can still keep secrets even when fused. It’s confusing, I know.”

“Well, anyway,” Vena opened up her spell book, “I’ve been working on some new spells. I think some of them might be useful for you.”

“What do you mean?”

“Oh, you know, simple spells that could be useful in fights.”

“Why would you want to help me?” Techtonic asked, “I thought you hated me?”

“I do hate you!” Vena snapped, “But, you’ve been helping me test out spells and help my

research about the portal stone, so I figured I should at least pay the favor back.”

“That’s ok,” Techtonic assured, “I don’t need you using your magic on me. It could make the others suspicious.”

Vena sighed, “Fair point,” she closed her book, “But, I have been working on a special

spell that you might like.”

“What kind of spell?”

“I can’t tell you yet,” Vena stated, “Besides, I’m still working out the kinks,” Vena set the book down. “Alright, enough talking. Did you find anything out about the portal stone?”

Techtonic shook his head. “I still don’t know it’s exact location.”

“So, no new progress,” Vena replied, disappointed. 

“I’ll make sure to visit the museum as soon as I can,” Techtonic assured.

“I don’t need you overworking yourself,” Vena said, “I can get a shadow creature to go there.”

“But then the ninja will show up to stop you,” Techtonic reminded, “Everyone would trust me. They wouldn’t see anything wrong with a ninja fusion at the museum. Or I could even go unfused to cause even less attention.”

Vena turned to Techtonic, “You know, you could be an evil genius if you wanted to,” she joked.

“No,” Techtonic replied, “I can’t see it in myself to hurt my friends.”

“Well, you have lucky friends then,” Vena replied. 

______________________________________________

It was late at night. Cole and Zane quietly walked back into the monastery, both of them 

heading for their rooms. Zane was almost to his room when he was stopped.

“Zane?”

Zane turned around to see Kai sleepily rubbing his eyes.

“Kai, what are you doing up so late?” Zane asked.

“I had to pee,” Kai explained, “What are you doing up so late?”

Zane looked around nervously. “I was hungry,” he lied.

Kai rolled his eyes. “You’re a nindroid, Zane. You don’t get hungry. You and Cole just got back, didn’t you?”

Zane sighed. “Yes.”

“You know, you guys never talk about your secret missions. You don’t even tell us when we fuse!” Kai said, “I’m starting to wonder what you guys are really doing.”

“It’s nothing, Kai,” Zane assured, “Nothing you need to be involved in.”

“Nothing? What do you mean!?” Kai demanded, trying not to yell too loud, “We’re a team, Zane. You can’t hide things from us.”

“You’re worrying about this too much,” Zane said.

“Oh wow, that’s a lot coming from you,” Kai retorted, “You’re the one freaking out about visions that aren’t real.”

Zane shook his head. “You don’t know that!” he argued.

“Well you don’t know that either!” 

The two ninja just stared at each other, their eyes narrowed. Kai let out a sigh.

“Look, I’m tired. Let’s just drop this. If you don’t trust me enough to tell me what’s going on, I guess I’ll just-”

“Kai, it’s not that I don’t trust you,” Zane interrupted, “It’s just… I just can’t tell you.” 

Kai stared at Zane silently. The entire monastery was completely silent.

“Yeah,” Kai responded after a while, “I see how it is.” Kai turned around, heading for his room. Zane watched the red ninja walk away before turning around to go to his own room.

______________________________________________

The next day, Zane and Cole were alone in Cole’s room.

“The museum should be open,” Cole stated, “We should be able to go there and just look around for anything about the portal stone.”

Zane nodded. “And we agreed to go separate in order to cover more ground and to cause less suspicion?”

Cole nodded. “Well then, what are we waiting for? Let’s go!” Cole got up and opened his door.

“Go where?” Jay asked, standing outside Cole’s door.

“WHAH!?” Cole yelled, “Jay!? What are you doing here?”

“Uhh, I came to get you,” Jay replied, “Are you ready for fusion training today?”

“What?” Cole questioned.

“Cole, we forgot about fusion training!” Zane whispered.

“Is everything ok?” Jay asked.

“What? No, everything’s fine,” Cole assured, “Yeah, let’s go.”

“Where is Kai?” Zane asked.

“He’s already outside waiting,” Jay answered.

The three of them walked outside to the training area. Kai was indeed waiting for them, his arms crossed and his foot tapping. He turned to the others as they arrived.

“Took you long enough,” Kai said with an annoyed tone.

“Sorry, we were caught up with some things,” Cole apologized, “Uh, which fusions were we working on today?”

Jay blinked at Cole. “Uh, Ridge and Swift? Just like every Monday?”

“Oh, right!” Cole replied, “I’m just out of it today.”

“More like everyday,” Jay said, “You’ve been tired a lot lately. Are you ok?”

“Like I said earlier, everything’s fine.” Cole assured.

“Uh, ok then,” Jay said, “I guess we should get started then.”

Jay and Cole grabbed each other’s hands and fused together forming Ridge. Ridge stretched his arms as he formed. 

Zane grabbed Kai’s hand. The two of them looked at each other, but they didn’t fuse.

“Hey, is everything ok you two?” Ridge asked.

“Oh, everything’s fine,” Kai said, “I guess we’re just a little out of practice when it comes to fusing together.”

“It hasn’t even been that long since the last time you two fused,” Ridge pointed out.

“Don’t worry,” Zane assured, “It’s fine.”

Kai and Zane surrounded themselves with their elements, fusing and forming Swift.

Swift opened his eyes, staring at Ridge.

“Alright, you ready?” Ridge asked.

Swift nodded silently, summoning a dart. He quickly threw it at Ridge, giving his almost no time to react. Ridge barely dodged it, but then Swift ran towards him. Ridge quickly pushed Swift back with an earth attack.

“Woah, give me some time to react,” Ridge said.

“In a real battle,the enemy won’t give you time to react,” Swift replied, standing up.

“But we’re just training. You can go a little easy on me.”

“Going easy doesn’t get you your true potential,” Swift argued.

“Are you still focussing on that?” Ridge questioned, “You need to chill out. We’ll get our true potentials eventually. Fleet and Chip just got theirs.”

“YOU DON’T NEED TO RUB IT IN, OK!” Swift snapped, unexpectedly.

Ridge went quiet for a bit. 

“Swift, it’s not that big of a deal,” Ridge responded calmly.

“Easy for you to say,” Swift said, “You’re used to feeling weaker than others.”

“Swift,” Ridge responded with an edge to his voice.

Swift let out a sigh, “I just need a break alright!?”

“We just started,” but before Ridge could say anything else, Swift stormed inside.

Swift walked into an empty room and closed the door. He rubbed his face before looking down at his hands.

“What’s your problem?” Swift asked angrily, “Why do you care so much? Because it doesn’t make sense! I’m tired of feeling weak and fusion is supposed to be my escape from that!”

Swift walked over to a mirror, looking at his reflection.

“Just let this happen… Easy for you to say! You got YOUR true potential FIRST! Maybe I’m just dragging you down...”

Suddenly, Swift’s body started turning to light.

“AGH!” Swift yelled in pain as his body struggled to stay together. He managed to keep himself together, keeping his form. Swift let out some heavy breaths, waiting for the pain to fade away completely. He looked back at himself in the mirror.

“What is happening to me?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I know there wasn't really a lot of major events this chapter, just kinda showing how the characters are feeling about things, which is important but you know. Next chapter will probably be more intense.


	9. True Pestering

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Ridge and Swift need to go on a mission to fight Vena, but end up arguing with each other on the way.

“What’s Swift’s problem?” Ridge was pacing back and forth, waiting for Swift to come back. “I get it, we all want our true potential, but he’s being a jerk about it!” Ridge kicked a pebble in frustration. “And what’s taking him so long anyway? I thought he was supposed to be the really fast one? Or maybe he’s mad that Fleet kinda took that role when he unlocked his true potential.” Ridge sat down, letting out a sigh. “Maybe he has a point. He’s always been so much better than me, always keeping his cool even in stressful situations, but then here I am. I can’t even keep myself together long enough to finish a fight by myself.”

Ridge heard the door open and turned his head, expecting to see Swift, but instead Nya walked out.

“There you are,” Nya said, “Where’s Swift?”

Ridge rolled his eyes. “I don’t know, he stormed off abruptly. I’ve been waiting for him to come back for about twenty minutes now!”

“Is he ok?” Nya asked.

“C’mon, it’s Swift, he’s always ok.”

“Well, we’d better go find him, cause there’s trouble in the city.”

“Wow, that’s new,” Ridge replied sarcastically.

“What’s gotten into you, Ridge?” Nya questioned, “It’s not like you to be so… grumpy.”

“I don’t know, it’s just Swift has been getting on my nerves lately,” Ridge replied, “He’s so obsessed with finding his true potential and he’s being really annoying about it!”

“Well that doesn’t seem too strange,” Nya replied, “Weren’t you doing the same thing?”

“Yeah, I was a little bit too focussed on it, but not to the degree that Swift is taking it!” Ridge argued, “He keeps saying how he should already have his true potential, saying how I’m weak so I’m used to this kind of stuff, how he’s just so much stronger and better than me,” Ridge sighed again, “But, I guess I can’t fault him too much. He IS better than me, I know that. But it still kinda hurts when he points it out, you know?”

“Yeah, trust me, I know,” Nya replied, “Remember, there was a time before I became the water ninja. Before I even became Samurai X. I was only ever seen as Kai’s sister or Jay’s girlfriend. But what I did was I didn’t sit around pouting about it. I got up and I made myself stronger, I made myself into my own person.”

“Yeah, I guess you have a point,” Ridge agreed, “But… I don’t know…”

Nya sighed. “C’mon, we’d better go find Swift. Ninjago isn’t gonna save itself.”

“God, I wish it did,” Ridge chuckled, standing up.

______________________________________________

“Ok, calm down Swift, I’m sure it’s nothing,” Swift tried to reason with himself, “You’re not falling apart, you’re just… stressed! Yeah, you just need some deep breaths to calm down!”

Swift’s body turned to light again, causing Swift to scream in pain as he struggled to keep himself together. He held himself as his body faded back to normal, his entire body shaky as he leaned against the wall to support himself. He began breathing heavily, trying to catch his breath. 

“Swift?” he heard Nya’s voice from the other side of the door, “Swift, are you ok?”

“Yeah, everything’s fine,” Swift assured, “I just uh… dropped something!”

“Really? Cause that’s not what that sounded like,” Nya replied, “Are you sure you’re ok? Ridge said you were gone for a while.”

“Yes, everything’s fine!” Swift said with a slight edge to his voice, “Do you need anything?”

“There’s trouble going on in the city,” Nya answered, “And we kinda need to go stop it.”

“Oh, I’ll meet you guys outside then,” Swift said.

“Oh, ok,” Nya said, slightly confused. 

Swift waited until he heard her walk away. He let out a sigh. “I just gotta keep it together. I gotta stay together. Everything will be ok.” 

He looked into the mirror, giving himself a nervous smile. He turned, leaving the room and heading outside where the others were waiting. 

“So, what kind of trouble are we dealing with?” Swift asked.

“What do you think?” Ridge replied rudely, “It’s probably Vena again.”

“Well yeah, I know that,” Swift argued, “I meant what she was doing this time!”

“Would you two stop arguing!?” Nya ordered, “Pixal said that there was more dark magic in the city near the museum, and that there were also traces of it outside the city. So we need to split up.”

“I can go to the outskirts of the city,” Ridge and Swift both offered. They both turned to each other.

“Listen, you always do better in the city,” Ridge said, “You should let me handle this.”

“Oh, yeah, cause you handled your last solo mission so well last time,” Swift retorted.

“Hey! Morro is a difficult opponent for anyone to fight!”

“He didn’t seem so hard when I showed up to help fight him.”

“Well that time we BOTH were fighting him!”

“WOULD YOU TWO SHUT UP!?” Nya yelled, “You’ll BOTH go to the outskirts, Pixal and I will go to the museum, got it!?”

Ridge and Swift both nodded nervously, both of them clearly scared of the water ninja.

“Alright, we’d better get going then,” Nya decided, “Good luck.”

______________________________________________

Ridge and Swift both arrived to the location where the magic signal was being picked up. Ridge was looking at the navigation device Nya had given him before leaving.

“We should be getting close,” Ridge said.

“Well how come there isn’t any dark magic?” Swift retorted.

“I said we were getting close, not that we were here!” Ridge argued.

“Please, just let me read it,” Swift said, “I’m part nindroid, I can probably read it better.”

“Yeah, and you’re also part Kai which makes you part dumbass.”

“Oh really? And what does that make you?”

“Listen, I may be a dumbass but I can also read a navigation device!”

Swift rolled his eyes. “You said we were close?”

“Yep, somewhere around here.” Ridge replied.

“Wow, I didn’t realize you two argued so much.”

Ridge and Swift looked around after hearing Vena’s voice.

“Do you always have to do the sneaky, ‘Oh, I’m gonna hide and then say something to make my presence known,’ thing all the time?” Ridge questioned.

“What can I say? I like making an entrance,” Vena replied. A cloud of purple smoke appeared in front of the two fusions. The smoke cleared, revealing Vena.

“Vena! What are you doing!?” Swift demanded.

Vena rolled her eyes. “What do you think I’m doing? I’m looking for the portal stone!”

“Portal stone?” Ridge questioned, “What the heck is that?”

Vena looked at the fusions with slight shock on her face. “He really didn’t tell them,” she whispered to herself.

“Who?” Swift asked, “Are you working with someone?”

Vena shook her head. “You stupid fusions need to stop getting in my way!” She used her magic to summon her katanas.

Ridge rolled his eyes. “Really? Katanas AGAIN!? Don’t you have anything else you fight with?”

“Oh, you want me to mix it up, huh?” Vena’s katanas disappeared, instead she created a large, intimidating scythe made of her dark magic.

The two fusions stared at the scythe, slight fear of their faces.

Swift smacked Ridge on the back of his head, “You HAD to say something?”

“Ok, I admit, that was my bad,” Ridge replied, “But it doesn’t matter, we can still take her!” 

Ridge summoned his flail while Swift summoned two of his darts. Swift threw his darts at Vena, but she quickly dismissed them by swinging her scythe. Ridge swung his flail towards her, but she jumped out of the way. She shot out spikes of dark magic out of the ground towards the fusions. Some of them hit Ridge, knocking him down. Swift jumped out of the way, avoiding Vena’s attack. Ridge looked over at Swift before looking down disappointed. 

“C’mon, get up,” Swift ordered, holding out his hand. He helped Ridge back up. 

Ridge swung his flail again, but Vena continued dodging it. Swift summoned some more darts and began to throw them at Vena while she was distracted from dodging Ridge. They hit her arm, fading as soon as they made contact. Swift then jumped in, shooting ice at the ground to try and trap Vena in place, her scythe disappearing as she panicked slightly. The ice hit her legs and it started to move up her body.

Swift gave her a smug look, but Vena returned his gaze with her own smug look. Ridge was still trying to hit her with his flail. It flew past her, and she grabbed the rope of it and yanked the flail from Ridge’s hand. She swung it around and used it to smash the ice, freeing herself.

“Ha, nice try,” she taunted, “But if you think I’m just gonna let you guys defeat me so easily, then you have another thing coming.” 

She stomped her foot on the ground, and it began to shake slightly. Ridge and Swift both

looked at each other nervously, until a hole opened up underneath the two of them. They both fell into the pit, making a THUD sound when they landed.

Vena looked down the pit at the two of them. “You two really are idiots, aren’t you? I don’t even know where the portal stone is yet! I just needed to distract you while my shadow creatures did some investigating on their own.”

“Well, too bad for you, because Nya and Pixal are at the museum fighting your shadow creatures right now!” Swift yelled up at Vena.

Vena blinked in surprise before face palming. “I forgot about those two!” she realized, “No matter, I’ll still get my information one way or another.”

“So, are you gonna let us out now?” Swift asked.

“Ha! No,” Vena replied, “I think you guys will be perfectly fine stuck down there.” 

Vena began walking away.

“Hey! HEY!” Swift yelled. He let out an annoyed sigh, “No matter, we’ll just get out on our own.” But before Swift could do anything else, the top of the pit began to get covered up, causing the hole to become darker. “No!” Swift yelled.

“Great, we’re stuck here now,” Ridge said.

“We’re not stuck here, we just need to get out,” Swift argued. He tried to shoot fire at the covering, but it didn’t do anything. He grunted slightly and tried shooting ice, but again, it did nothing. “Hey, Ridge, think you could try something?”

“What’s the point,” Ridge replied, “If you can’t do it, then how will I be able to do it?”

“What?” Swift questioned, “Ridge, what are you talking about?”

“Oh, don’t play dumb with me!” Ridge argued, “Everyone knows how much better you are than me! I kept trying to tell myself that they were wrong, that I was still capable of SOMETHING! But I can’t keep lying to myself.” Ridge began to hug himself, turning away from Swift. He could feel tears starting to form in his eyes, but he forced them to stay, not wanting to look anymore weak than he already was. “What’s the point of trying to be strong when I’ll never be as good as you?”

“Are you kidding me?” Swift asked, “Ridge, you were the original fusion. You took out a nindroid that none of us were able to take out even with all four of us. You fought Morro ALL BY YOURSELF! I had to have your help in order to defeat him!”

“Oh, NOW you start giving me credit,” Ridge retorted.

“Ridge, look, I’m sorry,” Swift apologized, “I know I’ve been acting like a real jerk lately and I have no excuse for that…”

Ridge continued standing with his back turned to Swift. “You know Swift, even though I was the first fusion and everyone thinks that makes me so great, the truth is, I don’t see what others see in that,” he turned to Swift, “I look up to you, Swift. You’re a perfect fusion. You never fall apart, you always manage to keep yourself together no matter what happens to you. And I can barely keep myself together long enough to deal with stressful situations.”

“Ridge, you can’t compare yourself to me,” Swift replied, putting his hand on his shoulder, “I’m great at a lot of things, but you’re amazing at so many other things! For one, you can kick my butt at any video game ever. And sure, I can beat you in a race, but in a fist fight with no weapons, no elemental powers, I don’t stand a chance! I mean, come on, you have super strength for crying out loud!”

Ridge stared at his hands and smiled. “Huh, I do, don’t I?”

“And think about it, for a while, you were the only fusion Master Wu trusted,” Swift added.

“Yeah,” Ridge agreed, “I’m great! If it wasn’t for me, we wouldn’t even have the other fusions!”

“Exactly!” Swift said, “You are  _ the  _ fusion, Ridge! You’re amazing, and don’t ever think that you need to compare yourself to others.”

Ridge nodded. “I am strong,” he said, “I am strong, I AM strong!” he repeated. Suddenly his body started to glow, the pit began to get brighter. The light faded, and Swift used some fire in his hand to light up the area again. He looked at Ridge, his eyes wide.

Ridge’s body had turned into what looked like some form of stone, his arms, feet, and hair turned into some type of crystal. 

“Alright, let’s get out of here,” Ridge said. He slammed his fist into the side of the hole, causing it to shake. A large crystal jutted out of the side. Ridge and Swift both looked up and multiple crystals shot out of the side of the walls. 

“After you,” Swift gestured. 

Ridge nodded, jumping up onto the crystals until reaching the top of the hole, Swift following close behind. Ridge clenched his hand into a fist and punched the roof, causing a small crack. He continued punching over and over again until it finally shattered, freeing the two fusions. Ridge jumped out, causing the ground to shake slightly after landing. Swift climbed out of the hole.

“Swift! This is great!” Ridge cheered, “I found my true potential!”

“I know, isn’t that amazing!” Swift tried to sound supportive, not wanting Ridge to know how jealous he felt.

“Now, where did Vena go” Ridge asked.

“She’s probably long gone at this point,” Swift replied.

“Well, do Nya and Pixal still need help?”

Swift shrugged. He pulled out his communication device to call them. “Hey, how are you guys doing?” he asked.

“We’re doing great,” Nya replied, “We’re on our way back to the monastery. How about you guys?”

Swift looked over at Ridge who looked down with a sad look on his face.

“Uh, we’re good,” Swift said, “Vena got away, but other than that, everything’s great.”

“Alright, we’ll see you guys back at the monastery then.”

“Alright,” Swift clicked the communication device. He looked back at Ridge.

“Man, I really wanted to fight someone!” Ridge complained.

Swift put his hand on Ridge’s shoulder. “You can punch me if you want.”

“Nah, it’s fine,” Ridge replied. His body turned into light as he turned back into his normal form. He stumbled a bit, but Swift helped him stand still. “Wow, even only using that form for a little bit has me feeling drained.”

“Wow,” Swift commented, “We’d better head back then.”

“Yeah,” Ridge agreed, walking away on his own after gaining his footing.

Swift sighed. “It’s fine,” he whispered to himself as Ridge walked away, “We’ll find our true potential soon enough, we just gotta be patient… Yeah…”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And with that, we are halfway done with the true potentials. I hope you guys have been enjoying their true potential discoveries so far, I know they're my favorite scenes to write for this. I know this and the next chapter are kinda short, but that's also why I decided to post two chapters today instead of just one.


	10. What's Your Plan?

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Vena, Zane and Cole come up with a new plan to help Vena.

“So, you said she was looking for something called a ‘portal stone’?” Nya questioned after everyone got back.

“Yeah, but she didn’t say anything else,” Jay replied.

“Pixal, do you have any idea what it is?” Nya turned to the nindroid.

“It is a type of magical stone,” Pixal explained, “It is said to be able to create a portal to anyone inside your current realm that either you or the other person can go through.”

“What does Vena want with the portal stone?” Kai asked.

“I don’t know, but she’s definitely not trying to find an enemy from our past,” Cole assured nervously.

“We cannot rule out that possibility,” Pixal argued, “There is still a lot we don’t know about Vena.”

“Well, you guys seem to have this handled,” Cole said, “Zane, can you help me with something?”

“With what?” Zane questioned. Cole just nudged his arm instead of replying. “Oh, yes, of course,” Zane replied.

The two of them left the room, leaving everyone else confused.

“Well, if no one’s gonna stay to try and figure out a plan, I guess I’m just gonna go make some food or something,” Nya said, annoyed.

Everyone started leaving the room, but Kai stopped Jay before he could leave.

“Hey, Jay, can we talk real quick?” he asked.

“Uh, sure.”

Kai sighed. “Don’t you think Zane and Cole have been acting suspicious lately? Like maybe they’re hiding something?”

“No, not really,” Jay admitted.

“Really? Not even all these ‘secret missions’ they’ve been doing? And just now, Cole sounded pretty suspicious about the portal stone.”

“That’s just how Cole talks,” Jay assured, “C’mon, this is Zane and Cole we’re talking about. They’re probably two of the nicest, most pure hearted guys on the team!”

“You have a point,” Kai replied.

“I think you’re just being paranoid,” Jay said, “Are you stressed out because Lloyd isn’t here?”

“I don’t know, maybe,” Kai responded, “I guess I do get worried when Lloyd is gone. But he needs a break from all of this. We should be able to handle any villain even if Lloyd is gone.”

“Listen, everything’s gonna be fine,” Jay assured, “Sure, we don’t really have any idea what Vena is doing, but on the bright side, with our fusion’s true potentials, we should be able to overpower her and take her out!” Jay chuckled slightly, “Hey, I just realized, all my fusions have unlocked their true potential!”

Kai rolled his eyes. “Just don’t get cocky about it, ok?”

“Wow, you’re one to talk.”

“I’m just saying, it isn’t THAT big of a deal.”

“You’re still upset because Swift hasn’t unlocked his true potential yet, aren’t you?”

“Ok yes, I am!” Kai admitted, “I thought he’d be the first one because he’s so amazing already, but no, it was Fleet. Fleet! Of all the fusions!”

“Yeah, I’m still kinda surprised about that, too,” Jay agreed, “But, I guess he was just already close to solving his major problem that was holding him back.”

“But Swift doesn’t have anything holding him back,” Kai replied.

“He probably does, you guys just haven’t found it yet.”

Kai gave an annoyed sigh. “Whatever, I’m hungry. I’m gonna go make food.”

______________________________________________

“So, I assume you didn't find anything?” Techtonic questioned.

Vena sighed. “No. I know you told me you were gonna go to the museum, but I got impatient.”

“Nya and Pixal beat up your shadow creatures?”

Vena nodded. “I really have to make them stronger if I’m ever gonna pull of my plan.”

“Plan?” Techtonic questioned, “You don’t need a shadow creature to go to the museum, that’s what I was going to do.”

“No no, not that plan,” Vena explained, “My other plan. But for that plan, I needed to capture that red one.”

“Kai?”

“No, not Kai! That stupid red fusion! Kai and Cole,” Vena yelled.

“You mean Vulcan?”

“Yeah, whatever his stupid name is.” 

“Actually, I’d say Vulcan is a great name,” Techtonic argued.

“I didn’t ask,” Vena retorted. She let out a sigh. “I almost got him last time, but then that pesky other fusion ruined it.”

“Well Vena, I think-” Techtonic was cut off as he abruptly turned into light.

Vena looked at him, her face full of concern and confusion.

Techtonic split back into Cole and Zane.

“Zane, are you crazy!?” Cole yelled, “Not telling the others about our meetings with Vena is one thing, but tricking Kai like that?”

“Cole, it’s the easiest way,” Zane argued.

“What… what’s going on?” Vena asked, “What are you two talking about.”

“We could get Vulcan for you if we sent Kai and Cole on a ‘mission’ where they have to fuse and you could find them and get Vulcan’s help.” Zane explained.

“Huh, that’s actually a great idea,” Vena complimented.

“Except we’d be tricking him!” Cole argued.

“Cole, it’s the only way Vena would be able to get his help,” Zane said, “Kai would never agree to do this otherwise.”

Cole sighed. “I… I’ll think about it…” Cole turned away, walking into another room.

“This is a little weird,” Vena said.

“What do you mean?” Zane asked.

“I mean, seeing you two,” Vena explained, “I’m used to talking to Techtonic. I… I kinda forgot he was a fusion for a little bit.”

“Yeah, I guess we just got used to fusing whenever we came to visit you,” Zane agreed.

Vena looked away awkwardly for a moment. “Do you wanna hear a secret.”

Zane looked at Vena. “Sure.”

“You were always my favorite ninja,” she replied.

Zane was taken aback at first. “Really?”

“Not like that!” Vena yelled, “I know you and Kai are kinda a thing. And besides, romance isn’t really my thing. But you’ve always kinda inspired me in a way. My entire life, I’ve felt worthless, I’ve felt like a monster. I never truly felt human. But look at you! You’re a nindroid, and you never let that take over your life. Everyone adores you, and I don’t know, I guess I just always respected you for that.”

Zane stared at Vena, unsure how to respond. “Vena, you realize you don’t have to fight us, right? You don’t have to be a villain. I don’t think I even understand why you want to fight the ninja.”

“I’ve said it before. I don’t hate the ninja, I hate your fusions.” Vena replied.

“But why do you hate them? It can’t just be because of your genetics.”

“I just hate them, ok!?” Vena snapped, “They don’t need to exist, they don’t make sense! Why can’t you guys just save the day like how you used to!?”

Zane didn’t have an answer for Vena. He stood quietly looking at her.

Vena turned away. “It doesn’t matter anyway. If my plan works, I won’t have to deal with it anymore.”

“What do you mean?” 

Before Vena could answer, Cole walked back into the room.

“Alright,” he sighed, “I’ll do it.”

“You will?” Vena asked. 

“Yeah,” Cole agreed, “After thinking it over, Zane’s right. Kai wouldn’t listen if we told him the truth, so this is how we have to do it.”

“Great,” Vena said, “I’ll be ready to go through with the plan when you guys are.”

“Do you think we could pull it off tonight?” Zane asked.

“I’m up for it,” Cole responded.

“I’m good too,” Vena agreed.

“We’d better head back then,” Zane decided, “Besides, the others will get suspicious if they realize we’re gone.”

______________________________________________

Zane and Cole arrived back at the monastery. Luckily, no one was outside to notice the two of them walking in through the main gate.

“We still have some time,” Cole stated, “I’m gonna grab a snack before we do this.”

Zane nodded and Cole walked away towards the kitchen. Zane sighed. “This will all end perfectly fine,” he assured himself.

“Zane?” Zane jumped slightly before turning around to see Kai.

“Oh, hello, Kai, I didn’t see you there,” Zane greeted.

“Hey, I just wanted to apologize to you,” Kai said.

“Apologize?”

“Yeah, I was talking to Jay earlier because I was worried that you and Cole were hiding something from us, but I know you two wouldn’t do that.”

“Oh… uh…” Zane replied.

“Hey, don’t worry about it,” Kai replied. He put his hand of Zane’s cheek. “I know I can trust you. I’ve just been stressed out with Lloyd leaving, and I’ve been taking it out on you.”

“Kai-” Zane was cut off when Kai gave him a small kiss on his cheek.

“Alright, I gotta go. I promised Jay I would help him with this one mission in his game.”

“Oh, ok,” Zane replied awkwardly. He watched Kai walk away and placed his hand on his cheek where Kai had kissed him. His expression turned into a worried look. He quickly shook his head.  _ It’ll be ok, Zane. Kai wouldn’t understand. This is the only way we can help Vena. _

It was later. Zane and Cole were about ready to put their plan into action. Zane was pretending to read a navigation device.

“It looks like something’s going on in the city,” he lied.

“Really? This late?” Jay questioned. He let out a yawn. “I was gonna go to bed.”

“That’s fine, Kai and I can go,” Cole assured.

“What? Why me? Why can’t you bring Zane?” Kai questioned.

“I haven’t recharged in a while,” Zane replied, “And besides, it’ll be dark out and Cole will probably need your fire to see.”

“C’mon, Kai, we can do it,” Cole assured, “And if something bad happens, we can fuse into Vulcan.”

“Ok, fair point,” Kai agreed, “Alright, we should be back soon.”

Zane and Cole both nodded at each other before Cole and Kai left. 

Jay yawned again. “Welp, I’m going to bed.”

“Yes, sleep is important,” Zane replied, watching Cole and Kai leave.

______________________________________________

Cole and Kai both walked down the dark streets of Ninjago City.

“You know, I’m starting to question why you would need my fire to see,” Kai stated, “They have light posts on the streets for that exact purpose.”

“Yeah, I guess they do,” Cole replied, “Anyway, we don’t really know what kind of thing we might run into. Maybe we should fuse so we don’t get separated.”

“Yeah, good idea,” Kai replied.

_ Wow, he doesn't even question it,  _ Cole thought. He grabbed Kai’s hand, the both of them using their powers together in order to fuse. 

Vulcan looked around after he formed. “Huh, I thought Zane said the signal was coming from here.”

Vulcan heard a noise that sounded like a quiet growl. He turned around but saw nothing, only darkness. He created a ball of fire in his hand to try and light up the area more. He squinted as he saw what looked like one of Vena’s shadow creatures slowly walking towards him.

“Ha, too easy,” Vulcan replied. 

The shadow creature suddenly lunged towards Vulcan, but he quickly took it out with a single punch. 

“You’re gonna have to try harder than that, Vena,” Vulcan taunted, cracking his knuckles. But before he could do anything else, a tentacle shot out of the darkness, wrapping around Vulcan’s arm. “What the?” Vulcan asked. Another tentacle shot out and grabbed his other arm. Vulcan attempted to break his arms free, but couldn’t. Suddenly, he felt his body fall onto the ground, as if he was being pulled down. Vulcan continued to struggle to free himself as his body slowly sunk into a strange purple substance forming in the ground. He heard footsteps approaching and looked up as Vena entered the light. She looked down at him, a smirk on her face. Vulcan just looked up in horror as his body sank into the ground below.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Oooo boy, we're getting into some of the scenes I've been REALLY excited to write for a long time now. This chapter was short, but I wanted to end it where I did before getting into more plot shenanigans.


	11. Reverted

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> After realizing Cole and Kai have been gone for a long time, Chip goes to find them and ends up fighting someone he never wanted to fight again.

It was relatively early in the morning. Everyone was getting ready for their morning training routine. 

“Kai and Cole still aren’t back yet?” Jay questioned, sounding a bit worried.

“They left really late last night,” Nya reminded, “It might be a while until they get back.”

“I’m sure they will be ok,” Zane assured, placing his hand of Jay’s shoulder.

Jay looked away with an uneasy look.

“Oh, c’mon Jay, I’m sure they’ll show up soon,” Nya tried to make the blue ninja feel better.

“Yeah, you’re probably right…” Jay agreed, slightly hesitant.

“Perhaps some fusion training could help take your mind off of it,” Zane offered.

Jay looked over at Zane, nodding slightly. “Yeah, good idea.”

“Well, while you two are doing that, I’m gonna go grab my spear,” Nya said. She headed inside as Zane and Jay got ready to fuse. Using both their elements together, they turned into light and formed Chip.

Chip looked down at his hands before summoning his slingshot. “It’s been a while since I’ve done some target practice,” he said to himself. He quickly turned around and shot an ice ball at a target behind him. It knocked the target down on impact. “Ha, still got it!”

______________________________________________

Vulcan slowly opened his eyes. He looked around the dark room he was in.

“What the?”

Vulcan tried standing up, but was instantly pulled back down. He looked at his arms and saw that he was being held down by shadowy tentacles. They seemed to cling onto his skin, making it impossible for him to break free from their grasps. 

A small amount of light filtered into the room as Vena entered.

“Vena! What are you doing!?” Vulcan demanded as she walked up to him.

Vena squatted down to meet Vulcan at eye level. “I just needed you for a little plan of mine,” she explained simply.

“Please, like I’d ever help you!” Vulcan retorted.

Vena laughed. “You don’t really have a choice in that matter,” she stated, “You see, the citizens of Ninjago may think you fusions are these amazing things meant to protect them, but I can see past all of that. I want them to see just how dangerous fusions truly are.”

“Oh really? How exactly do you plan on doing that?” Vulcan asked sharply.

“Well, you make that quite easy for me,” Vena explained, “After all, everyone already fears you.”

“I would never attack defenseless people!” Vulcan insisted, “I know I may have been a danger in the past, but I’m different now!”

“Please, people never  _ really  _ change,” Vena argued, “They just pretend to change in order to make others believe their different. But deep down, they will always be the same monster as before.”

“Well, you’re wrong.”

“Am I?” Vena questioned, “I can see deep down you want to destroy. You have all this anger that you don’t know what to do with, and you just want to unleash it onto the world.”

Vulcan began to flinch away as Vena spoke.

“I know you want to escape that part of yourself, but I have ways of getting it back,” Vena continued.

Vulcan looked up at Vena. “What are you talking about?”

Vena smirked. “I know I rely a lot on dark magic, but that’s not the only trick I have, I  _ am  _ part hypnobrai after all.”

Vena’s tail rattled and Vulcan quickly turned his head away. Suddenly, the dark tentacles reached up to his face, forcing his head towards Vena. He looked into her gaze for only a slight second before forcing his eyes shut.

“No! I won’t let you control me!” Vulcan insisted.

“Hmph, fine,” Vena replied, the rattling of her tail stopping, “It doesn’t matter anyway. As long as you got a brief look into my eyes, the magic can do the rest.”

“What are you- AGH!” Vulcan was cut off as a surge of dark energy erupted from the tentacles, the pain surrounding Vulcan’s body. He continued screaming as the energy shocked him. Eventually, it faded, leaving Vulcan still sitting on the ground, breathing heavily.

“You won’t be able to fight it for long, Vulcan,” Vena insisted with a smile, “You’ll never be able to change who you truly are.”

______________________________________________

“Wow, you’re really good at this,” Nya complimented as she sparred with Chip.

“Thanks, it’s the nindroid accuracy,” Chip smiled as he aimed another ice ball.

He shot it at Nya who quickly blocked it with her spear.

“I guess it’s just kind of hard to believe someone who seems so pure like you would be this good at fighting,” Nya replied, “I’m still getting used to it.”

“Ha ha, yeah,” Chip sighed, “I guess I’m still getting used to it too…” Chip lowered his slingshot and looked away.

“Hey, you ok?” Nya asked.

“Yeah, it’s just…” Chip started, “I’m… scared...”

“Scared? Scared of what?”

“Of myself I guess,” Chip replied, “You saw what happened when I unlocked my true potential. I let all that power and built up anger take over. I lost control of myself,” he explained, “It just scares me to think what might happen if I lose control like that again…”

Nya rested her hand on Chip’s shoulder. “It’ll be ok,” she assured, “You just need to make sure you express your negative emotions in a healthy way so it doesn’t build up like that again.”

“But will that be enough?” Chip asked, “It wasn’t just that I was mad. I was  _ powerful. _ I never felt power like that before. Every major battle I had been in, I just got beat up easily, but for once  _ I  _ was the one beating everyone else. And the fact that I enjoyed that… it’s terrifying…”

Chip and Nya both went silent.

A door opened and Chip and Nya looked up as Pixal walked outside.

“Are Cole and Kai still gone?” she asked.

Chip gasped. “I completely forgot!” 

“Me too!” Nya agreed, “They’ve been gone for a really long time now…”

“Hold on, I’m gonna try to call them,” Chip decided. He clicked his communication device and attempted to call Cole. Nothing. He then tried to call Kai, but still nothing. “It should be working! Even if they’re fused!” Chip replied, frustrated.

“They must be in danger,” Nya said, “We have to go find them!”

“No, I’ll go,” Chip offered.

“What!? You can’t go by yourself!” Nya argued.

“Zane was the one who sent them and Jay didn’t help because he was tired!” Chip said, “If this mission got them in danger, then I’m the one responsible for getting them back.”

“Chip…” Nya replied.

“Look, you’re not gonna change my mind, so just make this easier and let me go.”

Nya sighed. “Fine. Pixal, any idea where they might be?”

“I’m not sure,” Pixal responded, “I can’t seem to find a signal for either of them, and I can’t pick up any major traces of dark magic anywhere.”

Chip sighed, “I might have an idea where they could be.”

______________________________________________

Chip wandered around an unfamiliar area. He wasn’t even too sure what exactly about this place made him believe Kai or Cole would be here, but he trusted his gut feeling. He continued looking around, and it looked as if his search was a lost cause, until he noticed something. Due to being part nindroid, Chip could notice things that most humans found difficult to see. Chip saw what looked like some sort of invisible force field. He walked up to the strange aura and placed his hand on it. It went right through the invisible wall, causing Chip to quickly pull his hand back.

“Strange…” Chip commented. 

He placed his hand through the wall again and walked through. On the other side, he entered what seemed to be a hidden lair. He looked around at the dark surroundings. It seemed to resemble a cave, but it had multiple rooms in it. Chip wandered down the halls, trying to find anything he could that would lead him to Kai or Cole.

Chip almost completely walked past a room until he heard a scream coming from the other side.

“Vulcan?” Chip questioned, turning towards the door. He opened it and saw Vulcan, held down onto the ground, his body looking weak. “Vulcan!” Chip yelled.

Vulcan turned his head towards Chip, a concerned look on his face. "Chip!?”

“Don’t worry, Vulcan, I’m gonna get you out of here,” Chip assured, walking up to Vulcan.

“No, Chip, you have to leave!” Vulcan ordered, “How did you even find this place!?”

“I don’t know,” Chip admitted, “Wait, that’s not important! What do you mean I have to leave? I’m not just gonna leave you here!”

“Chip, please! You need to leave!” Vulcan pleaded, “I don’t want you getting- AAGH!” Vulcan was cut off as a surge of dark magic shocked his body.

“Vulcan!” Chip yelled in panic. He reached his hand out towards the fusion.

“NO!” Vulcan shouted, “Don’t… touch me!”

Chip stared down at Vulcan in horror. He had never seen the tough fusion in a state like this before.

“Well, well,” a voice sounded from the door, “Looks like someone has wandered to somewhere they shouldn’t be.”

“Vena!” Chip yelled, turning around, “What are you doing to Vulcan!?”

“Look, this isn’t really the best place to talk,” Vena assured, creating a magic spell, "Why don’t we take this conversation somewhere else?”

The entire room filled with a purple smoke. Chip shielded his eyes. As the smoke started to fade, Chip looked around and noticed Vulcan was gone.

“Vulcan!” Chip yelled. He turned around to Vena. “What did you do!? Where’s Vulcan!?”

“Vulcan’s in the same place he was. I simply just teleported us away,” Vena explained, “I couldn’t risk you ruining my plan.”

“What plan!? What are you doing to him!?” Chip yelled.

“Why do you even care about him so much when all he does is hurt you?” Vena questioned.

“He isn’t like that anymore! He’s changed!” Chip insisted.

“Oh really? How sure are you about that?”

______________________________________________

Vulcan’s entire body started shaking as he kneeled on the ground. “No…” he growled, “No… I won’t… let you…” Vulcan finally let out a loud, aggressive cry. He ripped his arms free, the tentacles disappearing into smoke after releasing Vulcan. Vulcan let out another soft growl. “I’m done with this.”

Chip and Vena still stood arguing in the separate room.

“You’re wrong!” Chip said, “You don’t know Vulcan like I do!”

“Please, it’s only a matter of time until he realizes you’ve been playing him,” Vena protested, “You thought you could make him into a good person? Good people don’t exist!”

“You’re wrong!” Chip yelled again.

Suddenly, a loud CRASH came from the wall. Rocks burst out of the wall, creating a small dust cloud that settled near the floor. Chip looked over at the wall and gasped.

“Vulcan!” he cheered, “You escaped! How did you do it?”

Vulcan looked down at Chip, his eyes narrowed. “Shut up, pipsqueak!” he yelled.

“What?” Chip questioned, stepping back slightly.

“Did you really think you could just humiliate me like that and get away with it?” Vulcan asked, his face full of fury. 

“Vulcan, what are you talking about?”

“You know EXACTLY what I’m talking about!” Vulcan snapped, “‘Redeeming’ me, getting me to play nice? Well I’m DONE playing your little game!” 

Fire began to surround Vulcan’s body and rocks started to form around his hands. Chip looked at him, his face full of fear. Vulcan shot a blast of fire at Chip who quickly blocked it with a wall of ice. The ice melted, but caused the fire to fizzle out.

_ What’s wrong with him?  _ Chip asked himself,  _ He isn’t acting like himself… Vena must be controlling him or something… _

_ _ “Well,” Vena interrupted Chip’s thoughts, “Looks like you don’t know Vulcan as well as you thought.”

“I know what you did!” Chip yelled, “You used your magic to hypnotize him!” 

Vulcan sent another blast of fire at Chip, but he blocked it with more of his ice.

“Huh, you’re smarter than you look,” Vena admitted, “But it’s not like it matters. You won’t be able to talk your way out of this fight. And unless I’m mistaken, I’m pretty sure Vulcan destroyed you during your first fight with him.”

The ground began to rumble as a large rock spike shot out of the ground, sending Chip towards the wall. Chip attempted to stand up, but Vulcan quickly ran in and grabbed the pale blue ninja’s arm, throwing him against another wall. Chip tried standing up again until Vulcan launched a fire blast at his arm. Chip yelled in pain, grabbing his arm and falling over again.

“C’mon, you’re not even trying!” Vulcan yelled, picking up Chip again before slamming him into the ground. Sparks flew off of Chip’s body as he landed on the ground. “I knew you were weak, but this is just sad.” Vulcan sent out another rock spike from the ground, launching Chip into the ceiling. Chip’s body fell back to the ground. Vulcan looked down as Chip struggled to get up again. “You know last time, you actually attempted to fight back,” Vulcan stated, “What’s the matter this time? You too scared to fight me?” Vulcan grinned.

Chip looked up at Vulcan, unable to fully sit up due to the pain his body was in. “I… I didn’t care about you the way I do now,” Chip responded, “Last time, I just saw you as a threat… but now I see you as someone who I care about… someone I love…”

Vulcan laughed. “What are you even talking about!?” Vulcan questioned, “What love? There was never anything between us!”

Chip looked up at Vulcan, his eyes beginning to get watery. He shook his head and wiped his eyes. “No! I know that’s not you talking, Vulcan!” he insisted.

Vulcan kneeled down towards Chip. “The Vulcan you think you know never existed.” He kicked Chip towards the wall. Chip fell to the ground and leaned against the wall.

Vulcan slowly approached Chip. “Face it, you FAILED, pipsqueak. And now, you have no way of defeating me. No one does!”

Chip’s face was full of worry. He sighed, closing his eyes. “I’m sorry for this, Vulcan…”

Vulcan stared at Chip in confusion as his body started to glow. A cold wind filled the entire room, flowing towards Chip. A large cloud of ice and lightning completely covered his body, making it impossible to see him.

“Just don’t lose control…” Chip pleaded with himself.

The cloud exploded, sending out a chilling wind. Vulcan coughed as the air cleared slightly. He opened his eyes and saw Chip floating in front of him in his true potential form. A storm cloud started to fill the room, Chip generating lightning and ice in each hand.

“Let’s fight,” Chip said with a cold tone.

Vulcan stared at Chip, initially feeling a little scared, but quickly turned back to anger as fire started to swarm his body once more. 

“RAAGH!” Vulcan yelled, launching his fire towards Chip. 

Chip quickly launched a blast of ice at the fire, getting rid of it immediately. Vulcan stared at Chip in disbelief. 

“You’re fire is useless,” Chip taunted, “Looks like you won’t be able to defeat me so easily!” Chip let out a slight grin. “You should just give up now.”

“I refuse to lose to a pipsqueak like you!” Vulcan argued, “You will NEVER beat me!”

Vulcan clenched his fist, earth particles surrounding it. He ran in to punch Chip, but he quickly dodged out of the way, moving behind Vulcan.

“Wrong move,” Chip continued to taunt. 

He shot a massive blast of lightning at Vulcan’s back.

“AHH!” Vulcan yelled in pain. He quickly turned around attempting to punch Chip again. He launched his fist towards him, but Chip grabbed his wrist, stopping his punch instantly. Vulcan’s face turned to slight fear as he felt Chip’s ice cold grasp.

“You like it when fights are easy, huh Vulcan?” Chip asked. Vulcan’s arm slowly started to freeze as Chip continued holding on. “You don’t want to admit it, but you’re weak compared to me,” Chip started to levitate up, lifting Vulcan off of the ground

“WHAH!” Vulcan looked at the ground. The floor was beginning to slowly become covered in frost. A loud BOOM sounded from the clouds. 

Vena watched the two fusions, pure shock on her face.

Chip glared at Vulcan. “You know, I really did try to see the best in you,” he continued, “But you threw that all away.” Vulcan’s arm continued to freeze and Chip continued holding him over the ground.

“What are you doing!?” Vena yelled, “I thought you said you loved him!” Vena was beginning to get scared of Chip.

Chip quickly turned his head towards Vena, glaring at her. His eyes went wide as he saw her terrified face. He turned back to Vulcan and saw his face was also filled with fear.

“WHAH!” Chip cried, dropping Vulcan as he realized what he was doing. 

Vulcan fell to the ground. He rubbed his half-frozen arm, melting it with fire. 

Chip shook his head.  _ You have to fight him! You have to make sure he gets defeated so Vena can’t use him!  _ He thought,  _ Just… I just need to be careful… _

Chip floated down towards Vulcan. “I’m giving you one more chance to give up.”

Vulcan glared at Chip. “I don’t want your pity.”

Chip sighed, closing his eyes. He opened them again, launching a large shard of ice that sent Vulcan flying towards the other side of the room. Vulcan tried to push himself up, coughing slightly has he lay on all fours. Suddenly, he was surrounded by ice crystals. He turned and saw Chip who was cornering him.

“End of the line, Vulcan,” Chip said. He aimed his hand towards Vulcan, getting ready to shoot a blast of lightning at him. Vulcan backed up against the ice crystals in fear.

Chip continued charging the lightning, glaring down at Vulcan. But Chip’s face slowly turned somber. He lowered his arm, the lightning fading as Chip began crying. Small icy tears fell from his eyes, making a quiet CLING noise as they hit the ground. Chip wrapped his arms around himself as Vulcan stared at him in confusion.

“Vulcan… I’m sorry,” Chip apologized, “I… I can’t do this…” Chip fell to the ground, kneeling on his knees as he continued to hold himself. His body faded to light as he transformed back to normal. Vulcan looked down at Chip, his face looking slightly offended that Chip refused to fight him. All the ice in the room slowly melted, quickly evaporating into the air.

“Vulcan, now’s your chance!” Vena called from the side, “He’s weak from transforming! Get him!”

“Heh,” Vulcan chuckled, standing up, “I knew you’d never be able to beat me!” He picked up Chip by his shirt and held up a fist. “I’m looking forward to this!” Chip looked down at the ground, his face still full of tears and his body quivering. He looked up at Vulcan’s face.

Vulcan glared at Chip, readying his fiery fist. His arm got slightly shaky, the fire quieting.

“What are you waiting for!?” Vena asked impatiently.

Vulcan released Chip, causing him to fall to the ground. 

“Ack!” Chip said as he landed. He looked up. “Vulcan?”

“Chip…” Vulcan said with a low voice, “I told you to leave before you got hurt!”

“What!?” Vena questioned, shocked.

“Vulcan! Vulcan, are you ok!?” Chip asked urgently.

Vulcan’s entire body was trembling as he attempted to keep himself in control.

“Chip, leave,” he ordered, “Leave before I hurt you again!”

“No! I’m not leaving you!” Chip insisted, “Fight it, Vulcan!”

“I’M TRYING!”

“Why bother?” Vena asked, “You can’t change the things you did in the past. Everyone has seen the destruction YOU caused! People are scared of you, Vulcan. If people will only see you as a monster, why try being anything else?”

Vulcan grabbed his head, trying as hard as he could to block out Vena’s words.

“Don’t listen to her!” Chip urged, “She’s trying to get in your head!”

“Oh please, like you wouldn’t do the same,” Vena retorted, “You manipulated him into being a better person. At least when he’s terrible, he can be sure he’s his own person and not the person YOU want him to be.”

“Vulcan, don’t listen!” Chip insisted.

Vulcan looked down at Chip. He started to glare at him and quickly shook his head. “NO!” he screamed.

“Would you stop acting like you can change the past!?” Vena hissed, “You can never fix the mistakes you made!”

“Vulcan! She’s lying!” 

“No…” Vulcan disagreed, “She’s right…”

Chip looked at Vulcan in fear while Vena gave a smirk of satisfaction.

“I can’t change the things I did,” Vulcan continued, “But that doesn’t mean that I can’t better myself!”

“What!? No!” Vena argued, “Why would want to better yourself for people who hate you!?”

“I’m not doing it for other people,” Vulcan turned to Vena, “I’m doing it for me!” His body started to become surrounded with earth and flames.

“Vulcan,” Chip said quietly, staring at him in complete awe.

Vulcan’s body became swirled in light. Vena watched as Vulcan transformed. The light faded, revealing Vulcan’s body had become a type of obsidian, lava flowing through his body.

“Alright Vena,” he said, “I’m done talking. Let’s get to fighting!”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I was really excited about this chapter. I think just any moments with Chip and Vulcan get me excited. I just love these two. And the more I love a character, the more I love to hurt them.  
I feel like at this point, this fic is gonna be longer than the first one, but who can say at this point. This was one of the longer chapters (I think it took be about 4 hours to write so....)  
I'm starting to get a little sick, so I may not be as motivated to work of this, but I'll try my best to start working on the next chapter. Hopefully this is just a simple cold and it won't last long but it's hard to tell sometimes...


	12. Exhaustion

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> After the fight against Vena, Vulcan and Chip both end up completely exhausted

Vena stepped back cautiously as Vulcan walked up to her.

“C’mon, Vulcan,” she tried to reason, “Don’t do anything you’ll regret. Didn’t you say you didn’t want to hurt people anymore?”

“I said I didn’t want to hurt innocent people,” Vulcan corrected, “But you’re right up my alley.” Vulcan cracked his knuckles, but it sounded more like a rock breaking rather than knuckles cracking.

Chip attempted to stand up, but stumbled a bit, still weak from getting beat up along with using his true potential form.

“Chip, stay out of this,” Vulcan said, “I don’t want you getting hurt any more than you already are.”

“Please, I’m not gonna just let you have all the fun,” Chip retorted, “Besides, I’ll be fine. I still have my backup energy.”

“Your what?” Vulcan questioned, turning back to Chip. He looked as Chip’s eyes turned a bright blue for a moment. He blinked as his eyes went back to normal.

“See, I’m fi- VULCAN WATCH OUT!” Chip yelled as he saw Vena getting ready for an attack.

She attempted to slice at Vulcan with her sword, but he quickly grabbed her arm, stopping the attack. He stomped on the ground as a heated rock shot up, pushing Vena back. Vena landed on the ground and slowly stood back up.

Vulcan grinned at her and launched a blast of lava towards her. Panicked, Vena quickly jumped out of the way. The lava landed on the wall and hardened quickly, creating a misshapen lump. Vena looked at the hardened lava and then turned back to Vulcan.

_ He’s gonna destroy the entire place!  _ she thought,  _ I’ve gotta do something… _

While she was distracted, Chip launched a blast of lightning at the half-snake. She stumbled back and looked at the two fusions approaching her. Thinking quickly, Vena shot out a blast of magic that filled the whole room.

The three of them were teleported away from Vena’s lair and into the middle of a forest. Vena coughed as she landed on the ground as she wasn’t able to prepare herself for her spell. Chip and Vulcan were also on the ground. Vulcan quickly stood back up and looked over at Vena. She was a decent distance from the two of them, but she still panicked slightly as Vulcan looked at her. She quickly stood up and summoned her katanas.

“Hey, Chip, wanna do me a favor?” Vulcan asked as Chip still sat on the ground.

“Uh, sure?” Chip replied.

Vulcan picked up Chip without hesitation.

“Keep her still for me, alright?” He smiled at the smaller fusion.

Chip stared at Vulcan at first before nodding with a determined expression on his face.

Vulcan turned back to Vena and quickly started using his spinjitzu, spinning rapidly before throwing Chip towards her.

Chip surrounded his entire body with electricity as he flew towards her. He crashed into Vena, sending lightning through her entire body. Chip jumped back as Vena waited for the shocks to wear off.

Vulcan punched the ground, causing a large fissure to form, heading towards Vena. Lava erupted from the cracks in the ground. Vena jumped away from the fissure and used a spell to seal the crack with a dark, crystal-like material. She looked over at Vulcan with narrowed eyes.

“You fusions ruin EVERYTHING!” she yelled. Her hands became surrounded by a massive amount of dark magic. A nearby tree became ripped out of the ground as Vena used her magic to tear it away from its roots. The tree became surrounded by the same crystal material so Vulcan wouldn’t be able to simply burn it away. She readied the tree and swung it with massive force at Vulcan, sending him flying at another tree. Vulcan’s body burnt straight through the trees until he hit a large stone.

Vulcan shook his head, tiny bits of lava flying off in the process. Vulcan stood back up and ripped another tree from the ground. He shot a blast of fire to the top, causing the leaves to erupt in flames. He ran up to Vena and swung his tree towards her. She quickly blocked it with her own tree. The two of them struggled to push the other back, Vena’s magic being about equal strength to Vulcan.

Chip attempted to shoot lightning at Vena, but only tiny sparks came from his hands.

“Dangit, Jay’s out of energy!” Chip whispered to himself.

Vena and Vulcan were still trying to push the other back with their trees.

“I thought I was finally getting somewhere, that maybe I would finally succeed at SOMETHING!” Vena yelled, “BUT YOU RUINED THAT!” In her rage, she managed to overpower Vulcan, sending him back again. “IT’S NOT FAIR!” Vena’s entire body became surrounded in her magic. She summoned two more trees. She was preparing to completely smash Vulcan with them, but she was stopped when a splash of water hit her face. She shook her head aggressively and turned over to Chip. 

“Stay away from him!” Chip yelled, breathing heavily.

“How long have you been able to control water!?” Vena questioned.

“I can’t,” Chip explained, “It’s just this area is so hot due to Vulcan that my ice just melts immediately.”

“Well, good to know your powers are useless,” Vena turned back to Vulcan, but Chip shot more water at her. “WOULD YOU STOP THAT!?”

“No,” Chip replied, sending another ice blast at her. It instantly melted, sending another splash of water at Vena’s face.

Frustrated, Vena threw her trees to the side. “I swear I am going to rip you limb from limb!”

“Actually, I’m pretty sure that’s what he’s gonna do to you,” Chip replied.

Vena turned around and saw Vulcan standing over her. He grabbed her arm and threw her at one of the knocked over trees.

Vena shook her head as she tried to stand up. Suddenly, she was stopped as a large rock pointed directly at her face. Parts of it began to glow a magma color.

Vulcan glared at her. “All it takes is one little mistake from you and a huge blast of lava goes directly into your face,” he warned.

Vena looked at Vulcan and then looked over at Chip. She closed her eyes. “You really wanna do that?” she questioned, “How are you ever gonna prove that you’re a good guy if you don’t show mercy?”

Vulcan gave her a confused look.

“No,” Chip disagreed, “I say you shoot her with the lava after what she did to you.”

Vulcan looked back at Chip and then back at Vena.

Vena began laughing. “What am I even fighting for anyway? I don't have any friends. No one would miss me. But then again, no one deserves to be alone, right Cole?”

Vulcan stepped back, blinking in slight shock. Chip also looked at Vena in confusion.

“Maybe I just need to find a friend, huh? Maybe I could find one if you guys let me.” Vena continued, “You never know, I could be useful to you guys. So, you guys don’t want to lose me. Besides, isn’t loss a hard topic for two of your ninja”

“Wh-what are you talking about?” Chip questioned.

“Oh, you know what I’m talking about,” Vena replied, “Deep down, you know  _ exactly  _ what I’m talking about.”

Chip shook his head. “If you’re trying to get into our heads, it won’t work,” he insisted, “Right, Vulcan?”

Vulcan looked away from the two of them. He lowered the rock, putting it back into the ground. He looked back at Vena.

“Leave,” he ordered.

Vena looked at him in surprise, “You mean it? You’re letting me live?”

“Just get out of my sight.” Vulcan demanded.

Vena laughed a bit before using her magic to teleport away.

Vulcan and Chip both stood in the forest, Chip slightly confused by Vulcan’s choice to let Vena leave. He looked over as Vulcan’s body turned to light as he faded back to his normal form.

“Vulcan, why did you-” Chip stumbled over as he tried to walk over to Vulcan.

“Chip,” Vulcan replied softly, running over to help him up.

“I-I’m fine, I just-” Chip paused for a moment, “I… I’m…” Suddenly, Chip completely fell over, passing out.

“Chip!” Vulcan yelled. He picked up Chip’s body. “Chip, are you ok!?”

Chip didn’t respond.

_ He must’ve passed out from over exhausting himself…  _ Vulcan realized. His own body was slightly weak from his true potential form, but he managed to keep himself together in order to carry Chip back to the monastery.

______________________________________________

Vulcan arrived back at the monastery, still holding Chip in his arms.

“Vulcan!” Nya yelled as he arrived, “What happened to you? Wait, What happened to Chip!?”

“You can ask questions later, right now we need Master Wu,” Vulcan said.

“What do you need me for?” Master Wu questioned as he came to greet the fusions back.

“It’s Chip, he passed out after we fought Vena,” Vulcan explained.

Wu placed his head on Chip’s forehead and nodded. “He will be ok, he just needs to rest,” he explained, “Nya, can you go take him to a bed so he can rest?”

Nya nodded and Vulcan handed Chip over.

“Ack! He’s heavier than I thought,” Nya commented.

“He’s part nindroid, remember?” Vulcan reminded, “You sure you can carry him?”

“Of course I can!” Nya snapped, “I’m a lot stronger than I look!”

Nya walked inside with Chip, Vulcan watching her leave. Vulcan’s body turned into light for a split second, causing him to flinch in pain briefly.

“Vulcan, perhaps you should unfuse and give yourself a break,” Wu advised.

“I’m fine,” Vulcan assured. He walked inside, following Nya. 

Nya put Chip in Cole’s bed due to his room being the closest. She covered him with the blanket, giving him one last look before exiting the room.

“Is he ok?” Vulcan questioned before Nya could leave. He was standing right outside the door.

“WHAH!” Nya jumped back, startled, “Y-yeah, he’s fine. Like Master Wu said, he just needs to rest.”

Vulcan looked over at Chip’s resting body. “I still wanna check on him.”

“Go ahead,” Nya said, moving out of the way so Vulcan could enter the room. She left the room, closing the door behind her.

Vulcan sat down next to the bed. He looked at Chip’s face. He seemed so peaceful lying there. He noticed the gentle rise and fall of the blanket as Chip breathed softly. He often forgot Chip was even half human due to all the nindroid abilities he had. He so badly wanted to climb into the bed with Chip and hug him and make sure he felt safe, but he didn’t want to wake him either.

Vulcan noticed the tiny scratches on Chip's face. He felt a wave of guilt. He didn’t know if he had caused those scratches or not, but the fact that it was very possible he caused them made him feel uneasy. 

“I’m sorry,” Vulcan whispered, “I should’ve tried harder to fight Vena’s control…”

Vulcan was interrupted from his thoughts when he heard the door slide open. He turned around and saw Master Wu who was also holding a cup with him.

“He will be fine, Vulcan,” he assured as he walked into the room.

“I know,” Vulcan replied.

“Vulcan, I know you’re worried about him, but you need to rest too,” Wu explained.

“No! I’m not unfusing until Chip wakes up!” Vulcan snapped.

Wu sighed. “Well, at the very least, have some of this tea.” He handed the cup to Vulcan. Vulcan looked down at it and then back at Wu. “It will help you stay strong so you don’t have those light flashes.”

Vulcan sighed before drinking the tea, not even bothering to cool it off first. “I don’t get it though,” Vulcan said, “If he’s out of energy, why didn’t he unfuse automatically?”

“Even unfusing requires some energy,” Wu explained, “When a fusion is too weak to stay fused, they use one last burst of energy to unfuse. But when they have absolutely no energy, they just pass out until they regain enough energy to unfuse.”

Vulcan looked back at Chip in silence.

“A fusion’s true potential is a powerful thing,” Wu said, “But with that power, it takes a lot of energy. How was your true potential form?”

“How’d you know I unlocked my true potential?” Vulcan questioned.

“It is easy to tell when a fusion’s body becomes weakened like that,” Wu explained, “How did you feel after unlocking your true potential?”

“I don’t know, I just kinda felt the same,” Vulcan explained, “Except stronger.”

Wu nodded. “You are one of the strongest fusions I’ve ever met.”

“I mean, not every fusion can punch holes in walls,” Vulcan replied, “But then again, that’s just all of Cole’s fusions.”

“That’s not the strength I was talking about,” Wu interrupted.

Vulcan looked at Wu in surprise. “Then, what do you mean?”

“I was always concerned about you, Vulcan,” Wu explained, “Whenever a dangerous fusion would show up, they would always be a threat. They never changed who they were. But you actually did changed. You wanted to better yourself and you grew as a person.”

“Psh, Chip was the one who changed me,” Vulcan dismissed.

Wu shook his head. “There’s only so much Chip could do. The only reason he even got anywhere with you was because  _ you  _ wanted to change.”

Vulcan sat quietly for a moment, looking back at Chip.

Wu stood back up. “I will leave you two here. If anything happens, come get me and I can help.”

“Alright,” Vulcan responded as Wu left the room. Vulcan continued watching Chip rest. He let out a sigh. “He’s gonna be ok…”

______________________________________________

It was nighttime. Chip slowly opened his eyes. He sat up and let out a yawn. He looked around the room, initially confused at where he was. He looked over at the side of the bed and jumped slightly. Vulcan was passed out, his head resting on his arms on the bed. Chip smiled and gently rubbed the dark red fusion’s head.

Vulcan mumbled slightly, burrowing his head deeper into his arms.

“Vulcan, you awake?” Chip whispered.

Vulcan’s eyes slowly blinked open. “I am now,” he yawned.

Chip rubbed his eyes slightly. “I must’ve been out for a while, huh?”

“Yeah, you had me worried, but Master Wu kept saying you were gonna be fine.”

“I had a really weird dream,” Chip said.

“Heh, aren’t all dreams weird?” Vulcan retorted.

“Ok, yeah, I guess,” Chip replied, “But this was just kinda strange…” Chip paused for a moment to yawn again. “Techtonic was there, and he was talking to Vena. I couldn’t hear what they were saying, but they were just… talking…” Chip’s voice drifted slightly. “Heh, isn’t that weird?” he turned back to Vulcan. Vulcan’s face was full of shock. “Uh, Vulcan?” Chip questioned.

Before Chip could say anything else, Vulcan quickly turned into light, throwing Kai and Cole onto the ground.

“Agh, what the heck?” Kai questioned.

“Uh, I guess the tea wore off, huh?” Cole replied nervously, “I think we should all go to bed.”

Chip looked at them in confusion. “Uh, yeah… I guess we should…” Chip calmly unfused back into Jay and Zane.

Jay let out a yawn. “Alright, I’ll see you guys tomorrow.”

“Sounds like a plan,” Kai agreed sleepily.

Kai and Jay left the room, but Cole stopped Zane before he could leave.

“Zane, how did Chip have a dream about Techtonic and Vena?” he asked with a stern voice.

“I don’t know, I guess my memory was able to create a dream based on our meetings with Vena,” Zane replied, “But… I don’t think the others know the truth.”

“Maybe it’s about time they do know,” Cole responded.

“What!? Cole, we can’t! We promised Vena,” Zane argued.

“We promised her? Zane, she KIDNAPPED Vulcan! She tortured him and tried to use him! Why should we still trust her?”

“Cole, I know it looks bad, but I still have faith in her.”

“Why? What has she done to earn your trust?” Cole questioned.

“Because she’s broken inside,” Zane explained, “She needs help, Cole. And I don’t want to leave her when she’s broken like this.”

Cole sighed. “I don’t know, Zane…”

“Cole, just give her another chance,” Zane pleaded, “Please, I just want to help her.”

Cole looked at Zane for a while. “Ok, fine. We’ll still help her.”

“Thank you, Cole,” Zane said, “Now, I better let you get some rest.”

“Yeah,” Cole agreed. He watched Zane leave his room and let out another sigh. “I hope Zane’s right about her…”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I know this was kinda uneventful, but I guess we get some more info on how fusions work. They can get completely exhausted and pass out without unfusing, so that's nice to know. I mean we also see Vulcan's true potential form in action but gkkhgxghjklhgh  
So the end of first quarter is starting to come up for school, and that along with me being sick might make it harder for me to work on this, but also knowing me, I'm probably gonna work on this anyway. What can I say, it helps with my stress sometimes.


	13. Left Alone

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Fleet continues to get more and more upset about Techtonic leaving while Techtonic begins to question Vena's ideas.

“Hey, Techtonic, can you hand me that stone?” Vena asked.

Techtonic quietly passed the small rock to Vena. She looked at it and looked back at Techtonic.

“You’ve been quieter than usual,” she pointed out, “Are you ok?”

“Why… why did you hurt Vulcan like that?” Techtonic asked quietly.

“What? Why do you care?” Vena questioned, “I just needed him for my plan to get rid of the fusions, but then that failed terribly.”

“You want to get rid of the fusions?”

“Well not you of course,” Vena insisted, “You’re different from the others.”

Techtonic went quiet again. “It’s just… everything felt so painful when Vulcan and Chip were fighting.”

“How would you know what they felt?”

“I know I didn’t exist in the fight, but Zane and Cole were there… They felt the pain their fusions felt and so I can feel that pain too…”

“Look, I get it, I was harsh,” Vena said, “I’m sorry. But don’t forget, the others don’t know about our secret meetings. I’m still your enemy in their eyes.” She sighed. “And I realize I almost blew our cover, but if I didn’t say anything, I don’t know what Vulcan would’ve done to me.”

Techtonic looked away. 

“Grey, er- Techtonic,” Vena said, “I never expected you to even think about helping me, but you did. You have no reason to help me with anything. You’re such a kind person and I… appreciate you,” Vena struggled a bit to let out the compliment, “And I don’t appreciate a lot of people.”

Techtonic turned back to Vena, her face showing concern for the fusion.

“You actually called me by my name,” he pointed out.

“Don’t look too much into it, ok?” Vena ordered.

Without warning, Techtonic gave Vena a hug. Vena was taken aback. Stunned, she simply stood still has Techtonic continued to hug her. Techtonic released her, backing up and looking down at her, his face still completely emotionless.

“I gotta head back,” he said.

“Alright,” Vena replied, turning away. She opened up her spell book to start working on her magic.

“See you later,” Techtonic waved.

“Later,” Vena replied.

______________________________________________

“Take that!” Fleet shouted, shooting lightning at the target.

“Impressive,” Pixal complemented, “But why not try a moving target?” She threw a shuriken and Fleet quickly shot it with some fire, playfully blowing smoke off of his fingers afterwards. 

“Your training is going well, I see,” Master Wu commented as he watched the fusion train, “Perhaps Techtonic can join you.”

“He’s probably busy like usual,” Fleet replied.

“Actually, I’m free now,”

Everyone turned around and saw Techtonic walk into the training area.

“Techtonic!” Fleet cheered. He ran up and hugged Techtonic. “That’s weird, usually your missions take all day.”

Techtonic shrugged, “I got done early.”

“Well then, maybe you could explain what you found?” Nya stated.

Techtonic looked at her. “I… can’t say…”

Fleet gave Techtonic a disappointed look. “That’s what you say all the time.”

“Well that’s just how my missions end,” Techtonic explained, “I just can’t talk about these missions.”

“Alright…” Fleet sighed, “So, are you up for some training?”

“I’m… a little tired,” Techtonic admitted.

“Ok, fair,” Fleet replied, “Maybe we could just watch a movie then?” Fleet turned back towards Master Wu to get approval. Master Wu nodded and Fleet turned back to Techtonic happily.

“Yeah, I’d like that,” Techtonic smiled softly.

Smiling, Fleet ran inside, waiting for Techtonic to follow. Nya walked up to Master Wu, Pixal behind her.

“Master Wu, aren’t you at least a bit concerned Techtonic doesn’t tell us anything?” she asked.

“I’m sure he has his reasons,” Wu assured, “I believe everything will end up fine.”

Fleet and Techtonic both sat on the couch together, Fleet bouncing up and down excitedly as he waited for the movie to start up. Techtonic sat calmly, watching the T.V. as Fleet bounced. As the movie started, Fleet calmed down. Techtonic looked down at Fleet for a moment.

_ This is nice,  _ he thought,  _ I haven’t been able to spend time with Fleet lately. _

_ _ Suddenly, Techtonic felt his head start to hurt a little bit. He flinched slightly, trying not to let Fleet notice. He heard a soft voice in his head.

_ Techtonic, I’ve found it!  _ He heard Vena’s voice,  _ I need your help with stuff, please come back to my cave. _

_ _ Fleet continued watching the movie happily before looking up at Techtonic. “Techtonic, is something wrong?” he asked after noticing the slight concern on Techtonic’s face.

Techtonic looked down at Fleet before standing up. “I-I have to go.”

“Really?” Fleet replied, a slight annoyance in his voice, “You just got back!”

“I know, I know,” Techtonic said, “I’m sorry.”

Techtonic left the room, Fleet watching him. Fleet sighed and grabbed the remote, turning off the T.V. He laid down on the couch and curled into a ball, looking to the ground angrily.

______________________________________________

Techtonic entered the cave quickly.

“Vena?” he questioned, “What is it?”

“I found it!” Vena replied excitedly, “I found where the portal stone is!”

“What? How?”

“I managed to sneak a shadow creature into the museum,” Vena explained, “And they found out it’s located in an invisible temple.”

“Invisible?” Techtonic questioned.

“Yeah, like how my cave is hidden by an invisible barrier,” she said, “I think it’s similar magic.”

“So, where’s the temple?” Techtonic asked.

“That’s the part I don’t know,” Vena explained, “But that’s not important right now. I wanted to give you something.”

Techtonic blinked in surprise. “What kind of thing?”

“Well,” she used a small bit of her magic. A shiny, grey crystal formed in her hand. She handed it to Techtonic.

“Is this some sort of magic crystal?” Techtonic asked.

“What? No,” Vena answered, “It’s just a cool looking crystal. I figured you’d like it.” She looked at Techtonic nervously. “Do… do you like it?”

Techtonic stared at the crystal with a blank expression. “Yes,” he replied simply.

Vena chuckled slightly. “Well, that’s not the only thing I have for you.” She turned back to her spell book and flipped to a certain page. “I’ve been working on this spell for you,” she said, “You said before that you never took the time to know yourself. And the fact that you’re a fusion doesn’t help because you can’t exist all the time.” She paused, showing Techtonic the page. “Well, I think I’ve developed a spell to help with that!”

Techtonic looked at the pages, reading the tiny descriptions written. “A… permanent fusion spell?”

Vena nodded. “Then you’ll never have to worry about falling apart. You’ll get to be your own person, Techtonic!” she sounded excited.

Techtonic looked at her. “What… what about Cole and Zane?”

“They’ll still exist within you, but why does that matter? You’re an amazing person, Techtonic, you should be able to be that person all the time.”

Techtonic looked back at the spell, considering the possibility of becoming a permanent being.

Vena’s face turned to a slight frown. “You don’t like it, do you?”

“No, that’s not it,” Techtonic explained, “I just… I’m unsure.”

“Well, you have time to figure it out,” Vena assured, setting her book down. “I just… I wanted to do something nice for you, that’s all.”

“Well, the crystal is nice,” Techtonic replied.

Vena let out another soft laugh. “I had no idea you had a sense of humor.”

Techtonic blinked. “I guess I didn’t know either…”

______________________________________________

Fleet was still angrily curled up on the couch. Although his anger had subsided slightly, as he started to feel more disappointed rather than angry. Nya walked into the room and stopped when she saw him on the couch.

“Where’d Techtonic go?” Nya asked.

Fleet didn’t say anything, instead he just sat up and gave Nya an angry look.

Nya sighed. “Again? He really left again?”

Fleet turned back. “Yep.”

Nya sat down next to the purple fusion, putting her hand on his back. “Whatever he’s doing, it must be really important,” she assured him, “I was talking to Master Wu and he told me not to worry about it.”

“Oh yes, cause Master Wu is so reliable,” Fleet retorted, “He’s the master of keeping secrets, Nya! He probably knows exactly what Techtonic is up to and isn’t telling us!”

“We don’t know that,” Nya replied, “What has Techtonic ever done anything to warrant suspicion?”

“He hasn’t existed long enough to judge,” Fleet crossed his arms.

Nya rolled her eyes. “Alright then, what about Zane or Cole?” she asked, “Techtonic has no reason to hurt any of us. We just need to trust him.”

“I know,” Fleet sighed, “I’m being selfish, I know, I just want to spend some time with him…”

“I’m sure he wants to spend time with you, too. He’s just busy…”

“Yeah…” Fleet paused for a moment, “Techtonic is just so amazing like that where he has secret missions all on his own, huh?” Fleet smiled.

“See, that’s a good way of looking at it,” Nya replied.

Suddenly, Pixal entered the room urgently. “Nya, Fleet!” she said.

“Pixal? What’s wrong?” Nya asked.

“The signals just picked up something suspicious near that mysterious area where Chip found Vulcan,” Pixal explained, “I believe that place is in fact Vena’s hideout.”

“Well then, I’d better head out there!” Fleet said, standing up.

“What are you talking about? You’re not going by yourself!” Nya argued.

“You’re right. I’ll call Techtonic and we can meet up there,” Fleet replied.

“Fleet, no that not what I-” Nya was cut off when Fleet clicked his communication device. He attempted to call Techtonic, but there was no answer. 

“Huh, he’s not picking up,” Fleet said, “Oh well, he’s probably too focussed beating up bad guys or something like that.”

Fleet quickly ran out the door before Nya or Pixal could try to stop him. He grabbed one of the spare motorcycles and rode down the mountain the monastery stood on, heading out to Vena’s lair. He attempted one more time to call Techtonic, but again, no answer. This time, he decided to leave a message.

“Hey, Techtonic, it’s Fleet,” he said, “Pixal says she thinks she found Vena’s hideout. It’s that weird cave where she kidnapped Vulcan. I’m heading there now, so meet me there when you get the chance.”

Fleet continued riding the bike into the city where he could find a shortcut. He rode down the streets, occasionally checking the built in tracker in the bike until he got to the forest area somewhat near the city where the secret cave was. He skidded the bike to a halt as he got into the grassy area. He hopped off the bike and looked around. He checked the tracker on the bike one more time.

“Yep, this is the right place,” he said, “But how come I can’t find it?” Fleet thought for a moment before facepalming. “Of course! It’s invisible! I’m dumb…”

He started wandering around blindly, struggling to find the hidden barrier. He kept walking in circles, unable to figure out where the cave was hiding.

“Ugh! This is stupid!” Fleet complained. He kicked a small rock. The rock was sent flying towards the thicker parts of the forest until it mysteriously disappeared in the air. Fleet blinked before rubbing his eyes, making sure he actually saw what he saw. He walked up to where the rock disappeared and held his arms out. They disappeared as well into an invisible wall. “Ha!” Fleet cheered, “I’m a genius!”

Fleet walked inside and discovered that it was indeed the same place as before. He walked around, looking around at the place. He heard someone talking in a nearby room and paused. He poked his head around the corner and saw Vena. It looked as if she was talking to someone, but he couldn’t tell who.

“Who are you working with?” he whispered quietly. He quickly and quietly rolled to a nearby rock to hide behind in order to get closer. He hid completely behind the rock, not wanting to blow his cover. He focussed on listening to what Vena was saying.

“Again, thanks for all your help,” she said, “I know it must be hard to sneak off all the time.”

Fleet rolled his eyes. “Anyone who decides to help YOU doesn’t deserve any form of thanks!” he whispered.

“You don’t need to keep thanking me,” the other voice spoke.

Fleet froze as he heard the other person talk. He shook his head, “C’mon, Fleet, that’s crazy, he would never…” He slowly poked his head around the rock to get a better look at Vena and her mysterious friend. He stopped as soon as he saw who she was talking to.

“It has been hard to constantly sneak off, but it’s worth it to help you,” the other voice spoke again.

Fleet was watching in complete shock. “Techtonic…”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A short chapter, I know, but I wanted to end it before it got to the next part cause I wanted that to be it's own chapter. I wanted to post this sooner but I was just really tired these last couple days and didn't get around to it.   
Anyway, things are about to get intense so look forward to that


	14. Treateries Revealed

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Fleet finally finds out what Techtonic was doing on his secret missions

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A bit of a warning for this chapter, there's a part that gets a little bit intense. There isn't any blood or gore, but especially for people who visualize what's going on while reading, just be a little cautious. Again, it's not too graphic so I didn't think I needed to put a huge warning, just wanted to be safe

Fleet hid behind the rock again.  _ What do I do? What do I do?  _ He asked himself over and over again. He shook his head.  _ I came here to fight Vena, that’s what I’m gonna do! _

Vena stopped and started looking around.

“What’s wrong?” Techtonic asked.

Vena turned her head and noticed lightning coming from behind a rock. Suddenly, the rock exploded, lightning flying from it, revealing Fleet to be behind it. 

“Fleet?” Techtonic questioned.

“How did he get here!?” Vena yelled.

“Quiet Vena!” Fleet shouted, shooting a ball of fire towards her. Vena flinched, preparing for impact, but the fireball was blocked by Techtonic creating an ice wall in front of her.

Fleet stepped back. “Techtonic?” he questioned, “You’re helping her!? She’s the enemy!”

“Fleet, I-” Techtonic attempted to explain.

“Since when have you been all buddy-buddy with her?”

“I’ve…” Techtonic paused, “Listen, I couldn’t tell you, alright?”

Fleet stopped, his eyes going wide. “This whole time, sneaking off on ‘secret missions,’” Fleet realized, “You were leaving to help HER!?”

“Fleet, if you would just let me explain,” Techtonic replied.

“What is there to explain!?” Fleet questioned, “You’ve been going behind our backs to help the enemy! This is the person who KIDNAPPED Vulcan and forced him to beat up Chip!” Techtonic started to flinch a bit as Fleet spoke. “She uses DARK MAGIC, Techtonic! She’s clearly evil! Why would you EVER want to help her!? How could you be such an idiot!?”

“Well look who’s talking!” Techtonic snapped unexpectedly, “You’re practically the master of being an idiot! You just run in without thinking all the time and you NEVER LEARN!”

Fleet froze, staring at Techtonic in complete shock, Vena also looking shocked as she had never seen Techtonic this angry before. Techtonic scowled at Fleet, but his expression quickly turned concerned.

“Fleet, I’m sorry.”

“Shut up,” Fleet dismissed his apology, “Shut up, shut UP!” Flames began to form around Fleet’s body, his body shaking slightly with anger. “I don’t wanna hear what you have to say!” The flames began to grow bigger, slowly turning a blue color. “YOU’RE A TRAITOR!” Small tears formed in his eyes as he yelled.

“Fleet, calm down,” Techtonic tried to reason with him.

“JUST SHUT UP ALREADY!” Fleet continued yelling, the flames erupting even bigger. “I TRUSTED you! I-I loved you!” Fleet’s voice got slightly shaky.

“Techtonic, be careful,” Vena warned.

“I can handle it, Vena,” Techtonic reassured. 

“Oh, you can handle it, can you?” Fleet retorted, “You just HATE taking me seriously, don’t you!?” 

Fleet retaliated, shooting a powerful blast at Techtonic. Techtonic stood in complete shock, unable to move. The massive flame hit him, knocking him onto the ground.

“TECHTONIC!” Vena yelled as she saw the fusion fall over.

She turned towards Fleet. He was glaring down at Techtonic, but his anger quickly turned to sadness. He let the tears run down his face as he cried out, his flames also starting to calm down slightly.

“Techtonic, please…” Fleet pleaded, “Please tell me that she’s controlling you or something. Please tell me you’re not actually on her side!”

Techtonic looked up at Fleet. Unable to respond, he simply looked away, ashamed. Fleet stared down at Techtonic, not saying a word. He looked away as well. The flames began to grow again as Fleet’s body started to get shaky again. But before he could do anything, a sharp, dark spike shot straight through his chest, purple smoke surrounding his body. The flames quickly died as Fleet fell over onto the ground, his body going limp.

Techtonic looked at his body in horror. “FLEET!” he yelled. He scrambled over to Fleet’s body, picking him up, still sitting on the floor. “Fleet, no no no no!” He held Fleet’s body close. Luckily, he could still feel a faint breath coming out of his mouth, but his entire body was cold.

“Techtonic, are you ok?”

Techtonic looked up at Vena, his face still full of worry and shock.

“What did you do!?” Techtonic’s tone quickly shifted as he addressed Vena.

“He was gonna hurt you! I did what I had to!” Vena defended.

“You could’ve killed him!”

“Could’ve?” Vena questioned, “That attack was meant to poison him. He’s alive now, but he won’t be for long.”

Techtonic stared at Vena, his face full of disbelief. He looked down as he started to comprehend what Vena just did.

“Oh, c’mon! Why do you even care about him?” Vena asked, “He’s just an annoying idiot who only cares about himself! All he’s doing is dragging you down!”

Techtonic continued holding Fleet close to his body. He shook his head.

“No,” he said, “Fleet is what DRIVES me!” He stood up, putting Fleet’s body gently on the ground, “Keeping Fleet safe, seeing him happy,” Techtonic continued as he walked up to Vena, “I care about Fleet more than ANYTHING! Which is something you can’t understand!”

Vena started to look more worried, “Techtonic-”

“Don’t say another fucking word,” Techtonic cut her off, “This isn’t just about Fleet and I. All of our fusions. Ridge and Swift, Chip and Vulcan. You’re planning on getting rid of all of them by keeping me around forever because you know I won’t get in your way!”

“That’s not what I was planning!” Vena insisted, “When are you gonna stop thinking about others and start thinking about yourself? You’ll never be able to find yourself if you keep focusing on everyone else!”

Techtonic kept glaring at Vena. “You know Vena, I HAVE been thinking about myself. And I know who I am now. I put others before myself because I care about them and I know I can take the pain for them. I’m a fusion so I don’t always get to exist, but that’s ok. But when I do exist, I do everything I can to protect the ones I care about.” Techtonic’s body began to get surrounded by particles of earth and ice, “And it’s about time I start protecting people from you.”

“Techtonic…” Vena watched him as the entire room became windy. Bits of ice and dirt flew around the room, causing Vena to shield her face. The wind calmed down and Vena looked back at Techtonic whose body had turned extremely pale. His arms and torso were black, spikes poking out of his shoulders. His black hair also had icy blue tips now. He stared at Vena with a cold stare.

“Techtonic, please,” Vena tried to plead with him.

Techtonic stared silently at Vena before turning his head back towards Fleet who was still lying on the ground. His body became surrounded by an icy stone dome.

“I’ll keep you safe,” Techtonic said softly.

“Techtonic, c’mon,” Vena said, “You’re not acting like yourself. I thought you never got mad at anyone. I thought you said you didn’t want me to feel alone.”

“That was before you hurt Fleet,” Techtonic growled.

The ground began to shake as icy crystals shot up into the air, levitating off the ground. Techtonic shot the crystals towards Vena. She ran, dodging the crystals, but tripping and falling to the ground. She shook her head and looked at Techtonic.

Techtonic continued standing in the same place and summoned a barrage of icy rocks to shoot at Vena. She created a shield of dark magic to block the attack. Her shield started to crack, so she resorted to creating a large blast, pushing Techtonic back slightly. Vena stood back up.

“I don’t want to fight you!” Vena said.

“That’s not something you should be saying to the enemy,” Techtonic retorted, causing Vena to flinch.

He ran at Vena, preparing to throw a punch at her. She quickly summoned her scythe to block the punch. She pushed him back and sliced her scythe towards him. He blocked it with his arm, tiny ice shavings flying off of his body, but no major damage forming. Techtonic quickly spun around, using spinjitzu and slamming into Vena, knocking her onto the ground. She attempted to get back up, but Techtonic continued ramming into her over and over again. Eventually, Techtonic stopped and looked at Vena sitting on the ground, her body quivering. She opened her eyes and looked at Techtonic, her eyes full of pain. Techtonic said nothing and shot an ice spike at the ceiling, creating a massive amount of snow and dirt to form. He slammed his fist down and the snow and dirt formed into lumps, falling right onto Vena like an avalanche. Techtonic took one last look at the pile of snow he created before opening up the dome he put Fleet in. He picked up Fleet’s limp body, staring at his face with a worried expression. Techtonic quickly ran out of the cave, his body fading back to normal as he left.

He saw the bike Fleet used to get here and quickly jumped on, holding Fleet close to his body. He started the bike and quickly turned around, heading straight for the monastery.

______________________________________________

“Do you think we should go after Fleet?” Pixal questioned.

“He’ll be fine,” Nya said, “Besides, if he does get in trouble, maybe he’ll finally learn not to run in without thinking.”

Nya and Pixal were both sitting outside, admiring the nice weather. Suddenly, the main gate of the monastery burst open. Techtonic stumbled in, carrying Fleet. He fell over, clearly weakened.

“Oh my God, Techtonic!” Nya quickly ran over to him, Pixal close behind. “Are you ok?”

“Fleet… he’s hurt…” Techtonic said, out of breath.

Nya quickly picked up Fleet’s body. “He’s barely breathing,” she said.

“Take him inside, I’ll go get Master Wu,” Pixal ordered.

Nya nodded and quickly ran inside with Fleet, taking him to the infirmary room. Techtonic was still lying on the ground. He burst into light, using the last of his energy to unfuse.

Zane slowly sat up, rubbing his head. He looked over and helped Cole up.

“Cole, I’m sorry,” Zane apologized, “I should’ve listened to you…”

“It’s ok,” Cole assured, “Right now I just want to focus on Fleet.”

______________________________________________

It was later in the day. Wu had given Fleet a powerful healing tea to eliminate the poison in his body. He had told the others that he should be ok, but it would be a while until he would wake up and be able to unfuse.

Cole and Zane were both too full of guilt to go in and see Fleet. Neither of them wanted to see him in such a helpless state. However, Nya and Pixal would give them heads up for how he was feeling.

The next day came around and Cole and Zane waited impatiently for Nya to exit the infirmary. She finally left, closing the door behind her.

“How is he?” Cole asked.

“Well, he’s finally awake,” Nya explained, “It’s a good thing you guys got him out of there when you did…” her voice trailed off.

“This is all my fault,” Zane said.

“Zane,” Cole replied.

Zane shook his head. “If I had just listened to you when you first started to doubt Vena, this wouldn’t have happened.”

“Don’t beat yourself up over this,” Cole argued, “I was the one who kept going with the plan.”

“I… I think you guys should probably go talk to him,” Nya said.

Zane and Cole both looked at Nya and then at each other.

Fleet was sitting in bed. He sat with his knees to his chest, his blanket covering his legs.

“Hey,” Fleet heard a familiar voice, “How are you feeling?”

“Techtonic?” Fleet replied, a little taken aback from seeing him, “I’m feeling better I guess. I still don’t have enough energy to unfuse though.” Fleet looked away from the grey fusion.

“Fleet, I’m so sorry,” Techtonic apologized, “I never should have helped Vena, I-”

“It’s not just that,” Fleet interrupted. He began to hug his knees, pulling them closer to his body. “I trusted you. We all did. And you used that trust against us… You knew we wouldn’t be suspicious of you and you used it to your advantage. You were the only person I would ever open up to. And seeing you working for her, after everything she did…” Fleet turned to Techtonic. “She tried to kill me… and you  _ helped  _ her.” Fleet’s voice sounded weak.

“Fleet, I…” Techtonic started, but couldn’t find the courage to say anything else.

Fleet stared at Techtonic, watching as he avoided eye contact. Fleet turned away, lying back down and covering himself with the blanket. Techtonic looked back at Fleet and slowly walked over to him. He sat down on the side of the bed.

“Fleet, I am so sorry…” Techtonic apologized again, tears starting to form in his eyes, “I hope you can forgive me…”

The entire room was quiet for a moment. Fleet looked down at the ground.

“Me too.”

______________________________________________

Vena managed to dig herself out of the snow pile. She looked around at her cave. The area was a complete mess. There were multiple puddles where ice had melted, mixing with bits of the dirt to make spots of mud everywhere.

Vena stood up, walking out of the snow pile. She looked at her destroyed place, her face full of sadness. She continued walking slowly until her foot bumped into something. She looked down at the ground and saw the grey crystal, completely shattered. She kneeled down, scooping the broken bits in her hands. Vena could feel tears starting to form in her eyes, but quickly shook her head to prevent herself from crying. She continued staring at the crystals with sadness in her eyes, but quickly changed her expression to anger.

“RAGH!” Vena shouted, throwing the pieces at the wall. She shot a powerful spell at the crystals, completely disintegrating them. She stared at the crystal dust angrily, breathing heavily before turning to her spell book. She walked over and saw it was still open to the permanent fusion page. She flipped to the next page, a spell that would let you split someone into two beings. Vena could feel her sadness trying to swell up again, but quickly ripped the pages out. She used her magic to burn the pages in her hand. She looked back at the book. The page was an unfinished spell she had titled the complete fusion destruction spell. She placed her hand on the page and glared.

“Alright,” Vena said to herself, “You wanna be enemies? So be it. I’m good at being the enemy. But this time, I won’t be holding anything back.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Alright, another kinda short chapter, but a really important one. I've had this moment planned out from basically the beginning. I had multiple dumb jokes in my head about this whole thing and I was always looking forwards to actually writing it.   
(Also I like to joke cause at the point of writing this, Kai and Jay are the only two ninja who haven't actually died and I like to imagine that Vena attempting to kill Fleet is her 'killing two birds with one stone')  
Alright, enough rambling, not sure when the next chapter is gonna come out cause I'm pretty busy this week, but I'll work on it as soon as I can


	15. Hurt

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Fleet and Techtonic both try to cope with the recent events that happened.

Pixal was walking down the hall when she noticed something. She stopped, looking into Zane’s room and saw Techtonic sitting alone.

“Techtonic?” she said.

Techtonic jumped slightly at the mention of his name, turning to look at Pixal. There was a quiet sadness in the fusion’s eyes.

“Pixal? What are you doing?” he asked.

“I just noticed you seemed lonely,” Pixal stated, walking into the room, “You seem upset about something which is unlike you. Is something wrong?”

Techtonic looked away, holding his arms.

“I really messed up…” he whispered.

“Yes, I’m aware,” Pixal said, putting her arm on Techtonic’s back, “Fleet’s probably going to have a scar where he was attacked. And not to mention the trauma he’ll have to deal with.”

Techtonic seemed to shrink into himself as Pixal continued talking.

“I’m sorry, I’m not helping,” Pixal apologized, “Have you been in to see him today?”

Techtonic shook his head. “Master Wu thinks I should do fusion training because I was absent from training for so long, but I just can’t bring myself to leave Zane’s room.”

“Fleet’s doing a lot better you know,” Pixal said, “Do you want me to go get him so you two can talk?”

“He won’t want to talk to me…” Techtonic dismissed.

Pixal sighed. “Techtonic, you can’t keep beating yourself up over this. You’ve learned from your mistake, we’ve all forgiven you.”

“Not everyone,” Techtonic corrected.

“He’ll come around,” Pixal assured.

Techtonic didn’t respond to Pixal. He continued to look away, holding himself together. Pixal stood up.

“If you want to do any training, you know where to find me,” she said before leaving the room.

Techtonic stood up and walked over to the window. He looked outside. The sun was shining. It was a beautiful day outside and part of Techtonic longed to go outside and feel the warmth of the sun, but he knew that would make things worse for him. It would be best for him to stay inside where it was cold so he wouldn’t be reminded of Fleet anymore than he already was. Techtonic shook his head.

“I can’t do this right now…” he said softly to himself before turning into light, unfusing.

“I’m sorry…” Zane whispered.

“Hey, it’s ok,” Cole assured, “I’m sure Fleet will find a way to forgive us… At least I hope he does…”

Outside of Zane’s room, Fleet was walking by. He was finally feeling his strength coming back and just wanted to walk around the monastery. He had overheard Cole and Zane’s conversation, but quickly walked past Zane’s room before he heard anything else. 

Fleet continued walking down the hall. He walked into one of the spare rooms. There was a shelf with multiple pictures sitting on it. Fleet quietly walked up to the pictures, a somber look in his eyes. He picked up one of the framed pictures and looked down at it. It was a picture Fleet had taken with Techtonic, Fleet making a silly face while Techtonic had his normal expression. Fleet smiled softly as he stared at the photo. He rubbed his hand over the glass and frowned slightly. 

_ Well look who’s talking!  _ Techtonic’s harsh voice played back in his head,  _ You’re practically the master of being an idiot! _

Fleet looked angrily down at the picture.

“AGH!” Fleet yelled, throwing the picture across the room. A CRASH sound came as the frame landed on the floor. Fleet stared at it angrily, breathing heavily as tiny flames formed at his feet. Fleet continued scowling at the broken picture until he slowly broke down crying. He fell to the ground on his knees, his head down. He looked up and crawled over to the broken frame, picking it up. He pulled the picture out of the frame. Tears continued streaming down his face, despite his efforts to fight the sadness. He clenched the picture in his hands until it erupted in flames, the ashes flying out of Fleet’s hands as the photo burned. Fleet stared at his hands before curling up into a ball. He sniffled a bit as he tried to let himself cry.

“Fleet?”

Fleet jumped as he heard his name, turning to see Nya standing in the doorway.

“N-Nya? What do you want?” Fleet asked, quickly wiping his tears away while standing up. “I was just about to leave so-” Fleet was cut off as Nya hugged him.

“It’s ok to be upset,” Nya assured.

Fleet stood still, slowly letting out his tears again. He wrapped his arms around Nya as he began to sob again, clenching onto her tight.

“I thought I could trust him,” Fleet cried, “I thought… I thought he loved me! I thought we had something!”

“I know,” Nya comforted him, “You’re hurting. Techtonic betrayed all of us, but he’s still on our side,” she said, “He still cares about you.”

Fleet pushed Nya off of him. “No he doesn’t!” he yelled, “If he was really sorry then he wouldn’t have helped her in the first place!”

“Fleet, that doesn’t make sense.”

“I don’t know, maybe he does still care but, AGH! No! I don’t care anymore!” Fleet continued yelling. Nya started stepping back slightly. “He didn’t mean to hurt us. What do you mean!? We almost DIED because of him!”

Suddenly, Fleet burst into light, finally being able to split apart. Kai and Jay both sat on the ground.

“Ok, I’m just gonna leave you two now,” Nya said, leaving the room. She closed the door on the way out.

Kai shook his head and stood up angrily. “What do you mean we should forgive them!?” he yelled.

“Kai, I don’t want to be mad at them!” Jay argued, “Trust me, I know what it’s like to be mad at someone all the time and I don’t want to go through that again.”

“Jay, they went behind our backs to help the enemy! How could you not be mad at them for that?”

“I guess I was mad at first,” Jay replied, “But they never meant for us to get hurt! If they really wanted to hurt us, they could’ve left us behind and let Vena kill us.”

Kai turned away. “That’s not how I see it,” he grumbled before leaving the room.

Kai walked down the hall angrily. Zane left his room, a sad look on his face. He looked up as Kai walked up to him.

“Kai, you’re ok!” Zane said happily. 

Kai ignored the nindroid, walking straight past him.

Zane turned towards Kai. “Kai, wait!” he said, grabbing the red ninja’s arm.

Kai snapped his head towards Zane, pulling his arm away. 

“Kai, I just want to talk to you,” Zane said in a calm voice.

Kai rolled his eyes. “What?” he asked in an angry tone.

Zane went back into his room with Kai. He sighed. “Kai, look, I’m sorry. I’m sorry for hurting you and I’m sorry for lying to you.”

“Is that it?” Kai retorted, “Good job, you realized you messed up. Can I go now?”

“Kai, what more do you want from me?” Zane asked, “I won’t help Vena anymore. I’m done, I swear.”

Kai glared at him. “You don’t seem too genuine by the way you’re speaking.”

Zane grunted. “I won’t help her! From now on, I’m only her enemy, that’s all.”

“Quick question,” Kai said, “What made you want to help her in the first place? She’s clearly evil. Why would you ever help someone like that!?” Zane looked away. “Well… it started as Cole who really wanted to help her, but after the Vulcan incident he was against helping her,” he explained.

“That doesn’t answer my question!” Kai argued, “I don’t care about why Cole helped her! I mean I do, but right now I just want to know why you would help her? You of all people!”

Zane closed his eyes, not answering.

“Seriously, Zane! What redeeming qualities does she have? She’s a monster and you’re one of the most kind-hearted people I’ve ever met!”

“I’m NOT a person, Kai!” Zane snapped, “I’m a nindroid! A  _ robot!  _ I’m not a person, I’m not human!”

Kai was taken aback by Zane’s sudden yelling. “Zane, I-”

“I could relate to Vena,” Zane explained, “She felt cast out by society. She isn’t like everyone else and it destroys her! I’ve felt like an outcast for YEARS now!”

“Zane, what do you mean?” Kai asked, “You’re one of us, we’d never treat you like an outcast.”

Zane shook his head. “I’m a  _ nindroid,  _ Kai. One look at me and people instantly see that.”

“But what about your cloaking abilities?” Kai questioned, “You look just like a human with that.”

“Why do you think I had that upgrade?” Zane asked, “I know I’m not a human, and thought maybe if I looked like one, I could feel like one. But that never worked.”

Kai placed his hand on Zane’s shoulder. “I… I didn’t know.”

“You never know,” Zane retorted, “You never take the time to think things through! You always jump to conclusions!”

Kai stepped back. “Well sometimes I have to because you don’t tell me what’s going on!” he yelled, “I know my assumptions are usually wrong. I thought you and Cole would never betray us and look how that turned out!”

“How many times do I have to apologize for that!?” Zane asked.

Kai shook his head and turned around, leaving the room.

“Where are you going?” Zane asked.

“Why do you care?” Kai retorted, “Why would I want to be around someone I’m mad at?” Kai closed the door, leaving Zane alone.

______________________________________________

“So, you’re not mad?” Cole asked as Jay had him wrapped in a hug.

“No,” Jay answered, “I understand you never wanted to hurt us.”

“Pft,” Kai was sitting to the side as Jay and Cole talked to each other.

“Kai’s still mad about it, huh?” Cole commented.

“Yeah,” Jay replied, “I think he and Zane got into a fight too so that doesn’t help.”

“Sorry to break up this little moment,” Nya interrupted, “But now that Techtonic’s secret is out, care to tell us anything important we might need to know?”

Cole sighed. “Vena’s looking for the portal stone because she wants to find Corria,” he explained.

“Dr. Corria?” Nya questioned, “What does she want with her?”

“I don’t know,” Cole admitted, “She never told us, just that she was close with her.”

“Well that’s weird,” Jay commented, “I thought Vena hated fusions, but Corria was obsessed with them.”

“Maybe she needs Corria’s help to get rid of the fusions,” Nya suggested, “After all, Corria was able to find a way to make forced fusions. Maybe she has a way of taking away fusions.”

“I guess that makes sense,” Cole agreed, “I wouldn’t be surprised if she was lying about her connection with Corria just to get on our good side.”

“So, did you find out where the portal stone is?” Nya asked, “If we can find it before Vena, then she won’t be able to find Corria very easily.”

“We don’t know the exact location, just that it’s in an invisible temple.” Cole explained.

Nya nodded. “Pixal, search the map for anything that might be able to help us find this temple.”

Pixal nodded and began typing on the computer. 

“Vena probably found it already,” Kai stated pessimistically.

“Don’t say that,” Jay replied, “We have to stay positive.”

Kai didn’t say anything and just rolled his eyes.

“I think I might have found it,” Pixal said, “The computer is picking up some strange signals from this area in the forest.”

Everyone looked at the computer where Pixal was looking.

“I don’t see anything,” Cole said.

“Exactly,” Pixal stated, “It’s invisible to the naked eye, but with my nindroid vision, I can see an invisible barrier hiding something.”

“Just like Vena’s hideout,” Jay pointed out.

“Well then, what are we waiting for? Let’s go!” Kai said.

“Hold on, someone should go get Zane,” Nya replied.

“Is he still in his room?” Cole asked.

“Probably,” Nya responded.

Kai looked like he was about to say something, but Cole quickly cut him off. “I’ll go get him,” he offered. Cole walked off as the others got ready to board the bounty.

Cole opened Zane’s door. “Zane, we found the hidden temple with the portal stone,” he explained, “We’re getting ready to go get it before Vena gets it.”

Zane nodded quietly before standing up. He walked silently out of his room.

“Zane, are you ok?” Cole asked.

“It doesn’t matter,” Zane responded, not even looking at Cole.

Cole stood still for a moment before following Zane out to the bounty.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ooof, sorry to say but the angst isn't gonna stop anytime soon. There might be a couple happy breaks, but for the most part, be prepared for some more feels. (Specifically Oppo feels)  
I feel like some of these chapters have been shorter, but I also kinda like short chapters. Personally, they're easier for me to read, so I hope you guys don't mind these shorter chapters.


	16. The Lost Temple

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The ninja go to the hidden temple to find the portal stone, but then they have another problem to deal with.

“We’re here,” Nya announced as they arrived in the area. They climbed down, Pixal staying on the bounty to monitor them.

“The temple is just north of here,” Pixal informed over the communication device, “You’ll be able to find it if you just keep going ahead.”

“Thanks, Pixal,” Nya replied.

“Don’t worry about it,” Pixal assured, “Oh, and one more thing. Be careful entering the temple. It’s easy to get lost in there.”

“Easy to get lost, huh?” Jay said, “I think I know what we need to do,” he turned to Cole.

“Good idea, Jay,” Cole responded.

“Yeah, Jay,” Kai said, grabbing his arm, “Let’s fuse.”

“Uhh,” Jay replied, looking back at Cole.

“It’ll be fine,” Cole assured quietly.

“Alright,” Jay sighed, “Let’s fuse, Kai.”

The two of them quickly used their elements, fusing into Fleet. Zane watched them fuse, a sad look on his face. He looked up as Cole placed his hand on his shoulder.

“C’mon, we’d better fuse too,” Cole suggested.

“Yeah…” Zane replied quietly.

“Alright, guys, let’s go!” Fleet urged. He turned around as Cole and Zane formed Techtonic and went quiet. He quickly turned away and started walking.

Techtonic looked away nervously, grabbing his arm.

“Hey, don’t worry about it,” Nya reassured quietly. She started following Fleet. Techtonic waited a moment before following behind.

“How far away was this temple?” Fleet asked.

“It shouldn’t be too far,” Nya replied, “Techtonic, do you see anything?” she asked. She looked up at him after he didn’t respond. “Techtonic?”

“Oh uh… yeah, we’re close,” Techtonic responded.

They kept walking for a while until Techtonic gestured for them to stop. 

“We’re here,” he announced.

“Cool,” Fleet replied, “So, is there like a door or something?”

Nya looked over at Techtonic who wasn’t saying anything. She nudged his arm.

“Oh,” Techtonic responded, “Uh, there should be an entrance nearby. It should appear when we approach it.” 

Techtonic walked up, and just like he said, a door opened up when he got close, revealing a long, narrow hallway.

“Good work, Techtonic,” Nya complimented. 

Techtonic just nodded in response. Fleet walked inside, barely even acknowledging Techtonic. Nya followed, Techtonic walking behind her.

“Techtonic, do you know where the stone is?” Nya asked.

“It should just be in the center of the temple,” Techtonic answered.

“Sounds easy enough,” Fleet said, “Let’s just get the stone so we can leave.” He stopped.

“What’s wrong, Fleet?” Nya questioned.

“This hall splits into two paths,” Fleet explained.

“Techtonic,” Nya said, “Which path leads to the stone?”

“I…” Techtonic paused, staring down both paths. He could barely concentrate. He started to get more panicky as he looked down both paths, unable to figure out which was the right path. “I… I… don’t know…” he admitted.

“Well then, Nya and I will go this way,” Fleet decided, “And you can go that way.” Fleet started walking down the left path, but Nya didn’t follow. “Nya?”

“Actually, Fleet, I think I’m gonna go with Techtonic,” Nya said.

Fleet blinked in surprise. He looked over at Techtonic and then back at Nya. He let out a sigh. “Alright, whatever,” he replied, turning back down the path.

Techtonic watched Fleet leave, not taking his eyes off of him. He had a sad look on his face, and Nya noticed it.

“Just ignore him,” she advised, “He’s just being pouty. He’ll come around.”

Techtonic said nothing and just started walking down the right path. Nya started following him.

“You know you can talk to me about it,” Nya said, “You’re not acting like yourself. I can tell.”

Techtonic shook his head. “I don’t understand what’s wrong with me… I shouldn’t be acting like this… I’m usually so good at hiding how I’m feeling, at figuring things out, but I can’t concentrate on anything right now.”

“It’s because you love him,” Nya responded, “And you’re hurting.”

Techtonic suddenly stopped. Nya almost ran into him but was able to stop herself before she did. She looked up at him, but noticed a small droplet fall onto the ground, taking her attention away. She looked back at Techtonic and heard him sniffle softly.

“Techtonic?” Nya said, reaching her hand out towards him.

“I hurt him…” Techtonic whispered, “I hurt him so much… I hurt him, Nya… It’s all my fault…”

“Stop blaming yourself, Techtonic!” Nya urged, “You weren’t the one who tried to kill him! That was Vena! She’s the one we should be blaming.”

Techtonic turned his head towards Nya, his eyes full of tears. “I know…” 

“C’mon, let’s get that stone,” Nya said with a calm voice.

“Yeah,” Techtonic replied, wiping his tears away, “Let’s go…”

______________________________________________

Fleet let out a sigh. “That stone better be here…” He shivered slightly as a slight breeze blew down the path. Fleet looked down sadly. “Is this right?” he asked himself. He shook his head. “No… It doesn’t matter anymore. I just need to find that dumb stone so we don’t have to deal with Vena anymore.”

He continued walking down the hall until he saw a light at the end of it.

“Ah ha!” Fleet yelled. He began running, getting to the open room faster. He got to the end of the hall and entered a big room. There was a pedestal in the middle, a small gem sitting on top.

“Fleet?”

Fleet looked over and saw Nya and Techtonic standing in another entrance to the room right next to him.

“WHAT!?” Fleet yelled, “Both paths lead the same way!? What was even the point!?” Fleet sighed. “Whatever, that’s not important. So, that’s the stone Vena was looking for?” he questioned, “I thought it would be bigger.”

“Huh, I can’t believe you actually found it,” a familiar voice spoke.

“Vena…” Techtonic said quietly, sounding slightly nervous.

“Show yourself!” Fleet demanded, turning away from the portal stone.

“If you insist,” Vena replied. A cloud of purple smoke appeared behind Fleet as Vena appeared. “Don’t think you can take that stone from-”

Vena was cut off as Fleet launched a fireball at Vena. She quickly jumped out of the way.

“You’re not going anywhere,” Fleet threatened.

“Oh, I believe it’s you who won’t be leaving,” Vena retorted, “You see, I set up some magic bombs around this temple, so after I take the stone and leave, this place will blow up, trapping you here.”

“You won’t get away with this!” Fleet yelled.

“You really think you can fight me?” Vena questioned.

Fleet quickly summoned his kusarigama and threw it at Vena, wrapping the rope around her and keeping her still.

“Ack!” Vena yelled.

“You guys get the stone and run, I’ll hold her off,” Fleet ordered.

“Fleet, we can’t just leave you!” Nya insisted.

“NOW Nya!” Fleet snapped.

Nya froze for a second, but quickly snapped out of it. “Ok.” She ran towards the pedestal, but Vena managed to smack her with her tail, knocking her over.

“Nya!” Fleet yelled. He turned back to Vena.

He sent a jolt of electricity down his rope, electrocuting Vena. Vena managed to use a spell, destroying the kusarigama and freeing herself. Fleet was knocked onto the ground. He looked up as Vena approached him. Fleet shook his head.

“Forget the stone, just get out of here!” he ordered.

“But Fleet-” Nya tried to argue.

“Just listen to me, Nya!” Fleet yelled, “Your guys’ safety is more important!”

Nya shook her head. “Alright,” She made a run for the exit. “Techtonic, let’s get out of here!” She stopped, looking back at the grey fusion. “Techtonic?”

Techtonic was standing completely still, his face full of fear.

“Techtonic? Techtonic!” Nya started yelling.

_ No… Please no not again! Please I can’t let her hurt him again!  _ Techtonic started to panic. Images of Fleet’s lifeless body started playing back in his head.

“We don’t have time for this!” Nya yelled when she couldn’t get Techtonic to snap out of it. She grabbed his arm and started dragging him out.

“How stupid can you be?” Vena taunted, “You’re the weakest of all the fusions and you’re challenging me by yourself?”

“Worst doesn’t always mean bad,” Fleet responded, surrounding his body in fire and lightning. He burst into light, causing Vena to shield her eyes. She looked back and saw Fleet floating off the ground in his true potential form. He flew straight at her, giving her no time to react before slamming into her, crashing into the wall. 

Vena coughed before climbing out of the small crater in the wall. She started shooting magic blasts at Fleet, but he quickly dodged all of them. He shot a blast of blue fire at Vena, knocking her onto the ground.

“Would you just stop it already!?” Vena hissed.

“Sorry, I’m not done getting my revenge,” Fleet retorted.

______________________________________________

Nya and Techtonic were about halfway down the hall when he pulled his arm away.

“Techtonic!?” Nya yelled.

“I can’t do this again!” Techtonic argued. He turned around, running back towards the fight.

“Techtonic, no! Vena’s too dangerous!” Nya called after him.

“I’m not leaving him again!” Techtonic snapped.

Nya just stood still, watching Techtonic leave.

Techtonic ran back into the room and stared in awe as he saw Fleet in his true potential form. He was shooting a giant blast of lighting at Vena, clearly overpowering her. Vena managed to shoot a small blast, stopping Fleet’s attack. She let out a couple heavy breathes before gasping as she saw Techtonic.

“You,” she grumbled.

Fleet blinked, turning around.

“Techtonic!?” he yelled, “I told you to LEAVE! I can do this without you!”

“I know you can,” Techtonic assured, “You’re amazing, Fleet.”

Fleet felt his body warm up a bit but he quickly shook his head, tiny sparks flying off of him.

“Shut up! You just came to show me up!”

“Fleet, I know I hurt you,” Techtonic said, “And I don’t expect you to forgive me, but just know that I’m not leaving you again.”

“No, don’t say things like that!” Fleet yelled, turning away and covering his face, “You’re making it really hard for me to stay mad at you!”

“Oh, sorry…” Techtonic apologized quietly.

“No, don’t apologize!” Fleet replied, turning back to him, “Ugh! Why do you have to be so adorable!”

“Wait, did I miss something?” Vena asked, “Why would you ever be mad at Techtonic!?”

“He almost got me killed!” Fleet yelled, “I bet he’s just trying to get on my good side right now. I know he doesn’t actually care about me…”

Techtonic looked away sadly. Vena looked at him and back at Fleet.

“Why are you such a fucking idiot!?” she yelled, “You really think he doesn’t care about you when he attacked me right after I tried to kill you!? After he unlocked his true potential by realizing how much he cares about you!?”

“What?” Fleet asked quietly. He turned back towards Techtonic. “That’s how you got your true potential?”

Techtonic stared up at Fleet, not knowing how to respond.

Vena realized he was distracted and started charging a powerful blast. Techtonic noticed and quickly shot a beam of ice at her hands, stopping the attack. Fleet quickly turned back.

“Oh, sorry,” Techtonic apologized again, “You wanted to fight her on your own.”

“Are you kidding?” Fleet asked, “I missed having your help.”

Techtonic looked back at Fleet and smiled. Fleet smiled back, winking at the other fusion. He turned back to Vena, flying towards her at high speeds. She quickled blocked his attack with a dark magic shield. Techtonic ran in, punching her side what she wasn’t blocking. She attempted to blast Techtonic, but was shot with lightning by Fleet.

“I’ve had enough of this!” Vena yelled. She shot a blast at the ground. The whole temple suddenly started shaking.

“What’s going on?” Fleet asked.

“It must be the bombs,” Techtonic replied, “We’re gonna be trapped here!”

“No we won’t!” Fleet assured.

Before Techtonic could say anything else, Fleet quickly flew at him, somehow finding the strength to pick him up. They shot right down the hallway, heading for the exit, quickly dodging falling debris. Vena watched them leave but quickly grabbed the portal stone and teleported away. 

The temple exploded, Fleet and Techtonic just barely making it out. They crashed into the ground, sending chunks of grassy dirt into the air. 

Techtonic coughed, sitting up. He saw Fleet laying on top of him, back in his normal form.

“Fleet?” he asked.

Fleet blinked a couple times, looking up at Techtonic. “Techtonic?”

“Fleet, she got the portal stone, Vena got away, she’s going to-”

Techtonic was cut off by Fleet leaning forward to kiss him. He stayed there for a couple seconds before backing off.

“I’m just glad your safe,” Fleet said softly with a smile.

“You’re… you’re not mad at me?” Techtonic asked.

"No, not anymore."

Fleet gave Techtonic a big hug, knocking him over and laughing. Techtonic looked down at him, surprised at first, but then started laughing too.

“Are you two ok!?”

Fleet and Techtonic looked up to see Nya, worry on her face.

“We’re fine,” Fleet assured her, “But Vena got the portal stone.”

Nya sighed. “Well, as long as you’re safe,” she said. She walked over and helped the two of them up. “C’mon, Pixal’s waiting for us.”

Techtonic nodded. “Let’s go Fleet.”

“Oh, you know what, all that fighting drained my energy,” Fleet said, “I just don’t think I’ll be able to walk.”

Techtonic let out a little laugh. “Alright, I can carry you.”

Techtonic scooped Fleet in his arms and started following Nya. Fleet wrapped his arms around Techtonic tight. 

“I missed this,” Fleet said.

“Yeah,” Techtonic agreed, “Me too.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yay, Fleet and Techtonic get to be happy again! I like to imagine Kai and Jay were having a little fight within Fleet over whether or not they should stay mad at Techtonic, and Jay won so...   
Kai probably still has some issues he needs to sort out...  
Sorry it took my a while to post this, I got a little side tracked and it took me a while to write this chapter. I'll try my best to write the next one soon, but I make no promises.


	17. Shattered

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> With Vena managing to take the portal stone, the ninja need to get to her cave quickly in order to stop her.

“C’mon, work!” Vena yelled. She was back at her cave, attempting to use the portal stone. “UGH! Why isn’t it working!?” She almost threw it in frustration but stopped herself, placing it down gently instead. She let out a sigh and placed her hands on the stone. She created a light mist with her hands, trying to figure out what was wrong with the it. “What?” she questioned, moving her hands away. “It… doesn’t have enough power?” She snapped her fingers and a small shadow carried a scroll to her. She opened it, reading about the portal stone. “The portal stone was completely drained of its powers long ago,” Vena read, “But it was still hidden away in case someone figured out how to restore its power. So, I just need to recharge it?” Vena sighed again, “Patience, Vena, patience. You’ve waited so long to see her again, you’ll just have to wait a little bit longer.”

Vena walked over to her spell book, flipping through the pages. She opened up to a spell near the start of the book. “Alright, let’s do this.”

______________________________________________

“Ok, let’s go over what happened,” Nya said, “Vena got the portal stone, and from what we can assume, she’s going to use it to find out where Dr. Corria is.”

“So, if we find Corria, we’ll find Vena?” Jay suggested.

“But we don’t know where Corria is,” Cole reminded, “She’s been missing for months.”

“Perhaps Vena is still in her base,” Zane replied, “There might still be time to stop her.”

“If we head there now, we might be able to stop her,” Pixal replied, steering the bounty.

“Alright, let’s go,” Nya agreed.

Pixal quickly changed the bounty’s course for Vena’s cave, going at full speed to get there as fast as possible 

“It still might be a while until we arrive there,” Pixal said, “You might want to take some time to rest before you go fight her.”

The ninja nodded, all except for Kai who was already walking down to the deck. Zane watched him walk away, hesitating for a moment before following him.

Kai stared at the clouds in the sky as they flew. He looked over as Zane approached him.

“How are you doing?” Zane asked.

Kai shrugged. “I’m confused I guess.”

“Confused?” Zane questioned, “What do you mean?”

“I don’t know,” Kai replied. He looked up at the control room and then back at Zane. “Do you ever think about Jay and Cole?”

“I think you’ll have to be more specific.”

“Like, do you ever think of them compared to us? How they just seem perfect for each other?” Kai asked.

“I’m… not sure I understand,” Zane replied.

“Don’t you find it weird how Jay instantly forgave Cole? Like, he didn’t even care!” Kai sighed, turning back to the clouds. “Makes you wonder what’s wrong with us…”

“What’s wrong with us? I… don’t see anything wrong.”

“I guess it’s not us. It’s me,” Kai replied, “I’m just too stubborn I guess.”

“You  _ are  _ very stubborn,” Zane let out a little laugh, but Kai didn’t laugh. “Are you still upset with me?” he asked, “I figured with Fleet, maybe you’d-”

“I don’t know, ok!?” Kai snapped, “I don’t know what to think. I don’t know how to feel.”

Zane was about to place his hand on Kai’s back, but refrained. The bounty came to a stop. Kai and Zane both looked down at the familiar area where Vena’s hidden cave was. They both walked up to the control room where everyone else was.

“Be careful,” Pixal warned, “My signals are picking up massive amounts of dark magic.”

Cole nodded. “That means she’s still here then.”

“Alright, let’s get in there!” Nya urged.

Kai shook his head. “It’s too dangerous for you,” he replied.

“WHAT!?” Nya yelled, “What do you mean!? I’m an amazing fighter, I can beat you in a fight any day!”

“I know you are,” Kai replied, “But with all that dark magic, it would be best to have our fusions go in.”

Nya looked at Kai and then over at Pixal.

“He has a point,” Pixal said.

Nya sighed. “Fine, I’ll stay here.”

“Good, now,” Before Kai could say anything, he saw that Cole and Jay were already fusing into Ridge. 

“Alright guys,” Ridge said, “You two fuse so we can go down there.”

“Ridge! You didn’t even let us decide which fusions should go!” Kai yelled.

“Kai, we need our best fusions, and I think we both know that’s Swift and I. We’re the most stable ones and we can’t risk anyone falling apart.”

Kai and Zane both looked at each other nervously. They both sighed.

“Ok,” Kai responded. He grabbed Zane’s hand. They both looked at each other before fusing into Swift.

“We shouldn’t take too long,” Swift assured, “We’ll let you know if we need backup.”

Nya and Pixal nodded as the two fusions ran, climbing out of the bounty. They got onto the grassy ground below. The air felt oddly cold as they walked into the hidden cave.

As soon as they entered, they noticed small shadowy creatures everywhere. They all turned towards the two fusions, standing still before running at them to attack.

“Ack!” Ridge yelled in surprise. He quickly shot lightning at them, causing them to disappear. 

“We’ve got this,” Swift assured, shooting fire at the creatures.

It felt like more and more creatures kept coming, despite their efforts.

“We’re wasting time,” Ridge said, “You go on, I’ll take out these guys.”

Swift nodded. He shot a large blast of fire, creating a path to walk through. He quickly ran down the path, entering a new room. In the room, stood a much larger shadow creature. It turned towards Swift and launched a tentacle at him, wrapping around his arm. It tried to pull him onto the ground, but Swift managed to summon a dart, cutting the tentacle and freeing his arm. The creature wailed in pain. Swift quickly summoned another dart, getting ready to fight the creature, but was stopped as his body turned into light for a brief moment.

“AGH!” Swift yelled in pain, kneeling on the ground, taking a couple deep breaths.

The creature attempted to attack Swift while he was down, but he managed to shoot it with an icy blast, destroying it. Swift stood up, still trying to catch his breath.

“C’mon Swift!” he yelled quietly, “Now is not the time to be falling apart!” He shook his head to clear his mind and prepared to move forward, but was stopped as he heard something approaching. He turned around and saw Ridge catching up with him, shooting one last shadow creature with his lightning.

“Swift!” Ridge said, “Is everything ok?”

“Yeah,” Swift replied, “There was a big shadow creature, but I took care of it.”

“See, I told you you were one of the best fusions,” Ridge complimented, playfully nudging Swift on the arm. “Now c’mon, let’s find Vena.”

Ridge started walking forward, but Swift stood still. Ridge stopped, looking back at him.

“Swift? You coming?” he asked.

Swift stood still, looking as if he was lost in his own thoughts.

“Swift?”

“Huh? Oh, yeah, I’m coming,” Swift assured. 

The two fusions continued walking through the cave. They noticed the air beginning to get more smoky. A faint purple mist filled the air.

“We must be getting close,” Ridge said.

Swift nodded.

“End of the line.”

The fusions stopped as the entered the next room. Vena stood on the other side, glaring at the fusions.

“Vena!” Ridge yelled.

“Did you really think I wouldn’t notice you two in my cave?” Vena asked harshly, “I figured you would’ve shown up eventually.”

“Oh really?” Ridge retorted, “Well, you still won’t get away with your plan!”

“I think you’re underestimating me,” Vena replied. 

She shot a blast towards the fusions. The two fusions both braced for impact, but to their surprise, they weren’t hurt. They looked up and saw they were surrounded by a large, glass-like dome.

“I know I can’t beat you in a fight,” Vena said, “So I’m just gonna make sure you guys won’t be able to escape.”

Ridge banged on the glass. “You won’t get away with this!”

“You already said that,” Vena said. She let out a little laugh. “Good luck getting out of there, by the way. You can’t use brute force to break that glass. Now, if you’ll excuse me, I have something I need to finish.”

Vena turned away, leaving the two fusions in the dome and entering the next room.

“Don’t worry, Swift, I’ll get us out of here,” Ridge assured, “I just gotta break the glass!” Ridge readied a punch and slammed his fist into the glass. The glass was unaffected. “Ow ow ow!” Ridge yelled, holding his fist in pain. “Ok, that didn’t work…” he mumbled, “Don’t worry, I’ll think of something.”

Swift just watched Ridge quietly before walking over to the wall of the dome, leaning against it. He slowly slid down onto the ground, curling up into a ball.

“I don’t want to use up too much of my energy with my true potential form…” Ridge continued rambling, “Maybe if I try throwing a rock?”

Swift looked up as he heard a rock smack against the glass, a sulky look on his face.

“Ok… the rock didn’t work…” Ridge realized, “Ok Ridge, think.”

“Would you just stop already?” Swift asked angrily.

“Huh?” Ridge turned towards Swift.

“We’re not gonna get out of here so just give it up!” Swift yelled.

“Ok, Swift, what’s your problem?” Ridge asked, “It’s not like you to just give up so easily. And you’ve been acting oddly quiet. What’s wrong?”

“Nothing’s wrong! I just-” Swift was cut off as his body turned into light briefly. “ACK!” Swift’s body got shaky as it formed again. He started breathing heavily once more. 

Ridge stared down at Swift, his face full of shock. “Swift, you’re…”

“I’m just cold, ok!?” Swift snapped. “AAGH!!!” Swift yelled even louder this time as his body glitched out again. He paused again to catch his breath. “I’m… fine…”

“Swift, you’re… you’re falling apart…” Ridge said.

“I can’t fall apart,” Swift mumbled.

“What are you talking about?” Ridge asked, “Of course you can fall apart. Every fusion falls apart sometimes.”

“No! I CAN’T fall apart!” Swift yelled, “I’m supposed to be the perfect fusion! I’m supposed to be amazing at everything! I’m the one everyone looks ups to! I’m the one everyone relies on because I could never do anything wrong! Everything’s perfect with me all the time, I’m always supposed to be happy with myself, I’m not supposed to get stressed out about anything!” Swift was beginning to break down as tears started to form in his eyes. “I don’t know what to do but everyone expects me to know exactly what to do because I’m not allowed to have problems! Anything bad that could be going on isn’t allowed to exist because everyone needs me to be strong all the time… I never get to process my problems cause I just need to force them to go away so I don’t let anyone down…”

“Swift…” Ridge said softly.

Swift refused to make eye contact with Ridge. “I just… I just can’t tell anyone about my problems because they think I don’t have any problems…” Swift paused for a moment as his tears ran down his cheeks. “I… I could’ve prevented so much…”

“What do you mean?”

“I… I knew about Techtonic’s betrayal this whole time… I knew Kai was gonna get hurt… I knew all of this but I didn’t say anything!”

Ridge was taken aback at first. “Why… why didn’t you tell anyone?”

“I was scared…” Swift admitted, “I never had visions like this before. I was scared everyone was gonna think I messed up or that somehow these negative visions were my fault.” Swift’s body shifted to light again, but this time, he didn’t make a sound.

“Swift, how long has this been going on?” Ridge asked. “How long have you been struggling to keep yourself together?”

“For a while now…” Swift replied, “I just didn’t want to disappoint you.”

“Why would you disappoint me?”

“You said it yourself. You look up to me. I'm the perfect fusion,” Swift explained, “And the truth is, Ridge, I look up to you. A lot. You’re able to make mistakes and people still care about you. But I feel like if I ever made even the tiniest mistake, everyone will just see me as a failure…” Swift went quiet.

“Swift,” Ridge said, kneeling down to meet him at eye level, “You don’t have to be afraid of making mistakes. I’m sorry for making you feel like you had to be perfect all the time, cause the truth is you aren’t perfect. But that’s ok. You’ll always be my best friend, even if you make mistakes or fall apart. Besides, everyone needs a break every once in a while.” Ridge stood back up.

Swift looked up at Ridge, smiling. “Thanks, Ridge.”

“No problem,” Ridge responded, winking at his friend, “Now, we still need to find a way out of here.” Ridge turned around, putting his hands on the glass. “Got any ideas?”

Swift stared at Ridge for a moment before closing his eyes, his body started to become surrounded by ice and fire.

“I could try throwing another rock, but I don’t know how helpful that would be…” Ridge thought, “If only Vena didn’t make it so difficult to break.” Ridge blinked, turning around as he noticed Swift.

Swift’s body was completely surrounded by his powers. Suddenly, the entire dome cracked. Swift exploded into light, causing the dome to completely shatter. Ridge shielded himself as dark shards went flying. He coughed a bit before looking over at Swift. His body was completely pale, his hair and arms resembling shards of ice. Despite his hair being made of ice, a massive fire surrounded it. He also had flame markings all over his body.

“Swift! You did it!” Ridge cheered.

“Heh, yeah,” Swift replied, “I did, didn’t I?” He turned towards the entrance to the next room. “Now c’mon, we’ve got a villain to beat.”

______________________________________________

“C’mon, it should almost be done!” Vena complained, “I’ve been using so much magic to get this to work.” Vena suddenly felt a cold breeze fill the room. “What the?”

Vena ran over and looked into the hallway. She gasped as she saw Swift flying towards her at high speeds. She quickly shot out a glass wall to try and stop him. But almost as soon as the wall appeared, it shattered completely. Panicked, Vena continued creating glass walls to try and stop Swift, but each one got destroyed immediately. Out of options, Vena attempted to use a more powerful spell. She successfully created a much more powerful wall that couldn’t be broken so easily, but Swift managed to fly into the room before the wall could block him off. He quickly punched Vena, sending her flying onto the ground.

“Did you really think you could keep me trapped?” Swift taunted.

Vena coughed slightly. “I see you unlocked your true potential.”

Swift laughed. “Yep, which means your time is over.” Swift readied a blast, but was distracted when he heard a knock on the wall. He looked over and saw Ridge was stuck on the other side. He quickly gave Swift a thumbs up.

Swift turned towards the portal stone as it charged power. “Maybe I should just get rid of your little toy.”

“NO!” Vena yelled in a panic, “You can’t!”

Swift started aiming a blast towards the stone, but Vena quickly shot at his arm, causing him to miss.

“I’ve waited for so long, I’m not waiting any longer!” Vena yelled.

“Alright then,” Swift said. He shot an icy blast at Vena. The entire room suddenly became freezing cold. Vena fell to the ground as Swift attacked her. She tried to get up, but struggled slightly due to the cold. Swift quickly shot her again, but this time with fire. The temperature quickly changed to scorching hot. Steam filled the room as the ice melted away. Vena coughed, struggling to get back up again. Swift floated slowly towards her.

“Just give it up, Vena,” Swift taunted, “I won.”

Vena looked up at Swift, and to his surprise, she started crying.

“I’ve worked so hard for this, please,” she pleaded.

“You really think I’m just gonna take pity on you cause you’re crying?” Swift asked with an edge to his tone.

Vena shook her head. “I just want to see her again! I just want to see Corria again!”

“You’re an idiot if you think we’re gonna let that happen.”

Vena turned towards Swift, her eyes full of tears, an unnatural look for her.

“Please,” she pleaded again, “I just want to see my sister again!”

“Wait, What!?” Swift stepped back in shock. His body faded back to normal as he fell to his knees, the steam finally clearing.

Vena stared at Swift in silence, small tears still slowly running down her face.

Swift shook his head before looking back at Vena in disbelief. “Dr. Corria is your SISTER!?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Oh boi all the fusions have gotten their true potential now! Yay! Not sure how many more chapters there are gonna be, but it's probably getting close to the end now.   
Also, one of my friends bullied me into letting them proofread it so that was fun. Not sure whether or not I'll have them proofread future chapters cause I like doing it by myself and it took longer for me to post this chapter because of it, but idk we'll see


	18. The Snake Fusion

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> After finding out Vena is Dr. Corria's sister, Swift needs to make a decision

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A bit of a warning, if you have a fear of needles, there's a scene involving needles  
Also a minor blood warning, there's a mention on blood. Nothing extremely major, just figured I'd add a little disclaimer

“What is he doing?” Ridge questioned, banging on the glass, but Swift didn’t seem to notice. “Why isn’t he stopping her?”

“Wait wait,” Swift shook his head, “What do you mean Dr. Corria is your sister?”

“What is there to explain?” Vena questioned, “Corria’s my sister and I’ve been trying to find her!”

“But you’re like, a half snake lady!” Swift pointed out, “And Corria’s just a normal person. Well, not a  _ normal  _ person…”

Vena looked away.

______________________________________________

**Ninjago: 10-15 years ago…**

“Corria, wait up!” A young girl called out to her sister. 

Corria turned around, stopping to wait for her little sister to catch up.

“You’re slow, Vena,” Corria teased.

“No, you just have a lot of energy,” Vena replied, trying to catch her breath, “Now, where was it we’re going?”

“Shh,” Corria hushed, “Just climb up here.”

Corria began climbing up a tree. Vena hesitated for a moment before following her. Corria got up to a thick branch, scooting over to make room for Vena. Vena struggled to climb onto the branch, so Corria helped her. Vena found her balance, sitting on the branch properly.

“Ok, now will you explain?” Vena asked, her voice in a whisper.

“Look,” Corria said, “The kids are playing a game!”

Vena looked down at the group of kids playing in the nearby playground. They seemed to be playing kickball, but it was clear none of them actually knew the rules. A lot of them started to shout something at the others, but Vena couldn’t make out what they were saying.

“Why not just go play with them?” Vena asked.

“Vena, you know we can’t do that,” Corria responded, “Mom wants us to stay away from the other kids. Remember,”

“We’re special,” Vena interrupted her sister, “I know, I know…” She looked down at the kids again, a somber look in her eyes. “Don’t you ever wish we had other friends?”

Corria blinked. “Other friends?” she questioned, “Why would we need other friends when we have each other?”

Vena sighed. “I don’t know, I just get a little lonely sometimes.”

Corria put her hand on Vena’s shoulder. “Hey, I’ll always be there for you, ok?”

Vena nodded. “Ok.”   
“And you’ll be here for me, right?”

“Of course!” Vena replied, “I’d never leave you!”

“Girls!”

Corria and Vena jumped as they heard their mother’s voice.

“Girls, where have you gone!?”

“We better get down from here,” Vena said. She started to scramble down, Corria following behind.

Their mother shook her head in disappointment. “Why do my children have to act this way?” she asked herself. 

“We’re here, mother!” Corria called, running over, Vena close behind.

“Ah, there you two are,” their mother replied. She gave both of them quick hugs. “Now, we must head back home. I feel like I’m very close to discovering the secret to my little experiment.”

“I know you can do it,” Corria replied.

“Well of course I can! I am Dr. Amalga, the greatest scientist in Ninjago!”

Corria stared at her mother in awe. Vena had a more nervous look on her face.

“Now, hurry up you two,” Dr. Amalga urged, “It’ll be getting dark soon.”

The two girls obeyed, following their mother back home.

Corria and Vena both sat on their beds in their room. Vena was fidgeting with her fingers while Corria was busy doodling something in a notebook.

“Hey, Corria,” Vena said, “Can I ask you something?”

“What is it?” Corria replied.

“Why do you act so enthusiastic around mom?” Vena asked, “You know her experiments are… weird, right?”

“Yeah, I know,” Corria said, “But it’s best to get on her good side, you know?”

Vena sighed. “She never lets me get on her good side…”

“That’s because mom’s a meany head,” Corria replied, “But you know, as long as we have each other, it doesn’t matter, right?”

“Y-yeah,” Vena responded.

“Now go to bed,” Corria said, “It’s late and we don’t want mom scolding us for staying up too long.”

“Ok,” Vena obeyed, leaving over her bed to turn the light off.

Dr. Amalga was up late in her lab.

“C’mon, work!” she complained. 

She was attempting to mix two different creatures together. She had been attempting this experiment for months now. All the other scientists had called her crazy, saying that she would never be able to successfully merge two creatures together. All of Dr. Amalga’s tests had failed. She had been struggling to find a good balance between the two creatures and tried many combinations. She recently came across some hypnobrai DNA that she wanted to use to its fullest potential, but was scared to do anything with it in fear of ruining it.

“Perhaps I just need a better test subject,” Dr. Amalga thought, “Something that can handle the power of the hypnobrai DNA…” 

She continued to think for a moment before getting an idea. She ran over to her computer and started typing some stuff on it.

“Of course,” she realized, “How didn’t I think of this before?”

______________________________________________

It was the next day. Corria and Vena were both playing outside, chasing each other happily. They heard the door open and both of them froze.

“Vena, sweetie,” their mother called, “Can I see you for a little bit?”

Vena and Corria looked at each other nervously before Vena walked up to her mother. She followed her inside, Dr. Amalga closing the door behind her.

“What do you need me for” Vena asked politely.

“How would you like to help your mother in her little project?” Dr. Amalga asked.

“I… I don’t know,” Vena responded nervously, starting to fidget with her hands. Her mother placed her hand on Vena’s shoulder.

“Don’t be silly, Vena,” she said, “Of course you want to help me. I would really appreciate it.” She looked down at her daughter, a soft smile on her face.

Vena looked up at her mother and smiled. “Ok.”

“Good.”

The two of them walked into the lab. Vena looked at a hypnobrai skeleton placed on one of the tables, fear in her eyes.

“Oh, don’t look so scared,” Dr. Amalga assured, “It’s dead. It can’t hurt you.”

“Where'd you find a snake skeleton?” Vena questioned.

“I just found it somewhere, it’s not important,” Dr. Amalga replied, “Now please, sit on this table.”

Vena obeyed, climbing up onto the table. She looked over at her mother as she walked over to the computer. She started typing something, but Vena didn’t know what. She opened a drawer in her desk and pulled out a syringe. Vena stared at it, visibly scared.

“Now don’t worry,” Dr. Amalga assured, “This will only hurt for a little bit.”

“O-ok,” Vena responded.

Dr. Amalga quickly poked the needle into Vena’s arm, injecting a strange teal liquid inside her.

“AHH!” Vena yelled in pain.

“Would you be quiet!?” Dr. Amalga demanded, “It’s not that bad, don’t cry over it.”

Vena sniffled a little bit, trying not to cry. She nodded quietly. She couldn’t explain why, she had gotten shots before, but this one hurt way more than usual,

“Alright,” Dr. Amalga continued, “I have one more thing I need to do.” 

She pulled out another syringe, causing Vena to flinch. She didn’t even give her daughter time to prepare this time before injecting her with the syringe. Vena bit her lip, trying not to cry. Suddenly, she felt herself get very sleepy. She fell over on the table, her eyes slowly closing as she fell asleep.

______________________________________________

Vena slowly opened her eyes, still feeling a little sleepy. She sat up and yawned. She opened her eyes again, this time, her eyes going wide as she realized she was sitting in a glass tube, multiple wires attached to her arms. She looked over and saw her mother at the computer, speaking into her log she was keeping about her experiments.

“Finally, I’ve managed to make a successful merge,” her mother spoke, “Who knew Vena would make for a great test subject?”

Vena let out a quiet gasp. She looked around, noticing her reflection in the glass. Her eyes had turned yellow, and her pupils were narrow. She also had small fangs in her mouth. She looked down and saw a giant snake tail. Panicked, Vena jumped back, trying to get away from the snake, not realizing the tail was attached to herself.

“Perhaps they’ll finally let me, urgh-” Dr. Amalga was interrupted because of her daughter making a ruckus. “I’ll have to come back,” she replied before pausing her log and standing up. “Vena!” she yelled.

Vena looked up at her mother through the tube, complete fear and shock in her eyes.

“I am trying to log my experiment, do you mind!?”

“M-mom!” Vena cried, “There’s a scary snake in here!”

Dr. Amalga laughed. “Oh, silly little Vena,” she said, “That’s not a snake, that’s your new tail.”

“M-my tail!?” Vena asked, shocked. She looked down at her tail, tears starting to form in her eyes. She began banging on the glass. “I don’t want a tail! Take it away! Take the tail away!”

“Oh, I can’t do that, it’s important for my experiment,” Dr. Amalga replied.

Vena went completely silent, looking up at her mother.

Dr. Amalga sighed. “Ok, listen. I can let you out and you can go play with Corria or something. Would that make you feel better?”

Vena said nothing, she just continued staring at Dr. Amalga in silence. Dr. Amalga walked over and pushed a button on a control panel next to the glass tube. The door on the tube opened up. Dr. Amalga walked back over to Vena and took the wires off.

“Alright, go on,” Dr. Amalga said, a soft smile on her face.

Vena stared at her mother one last time before running out of the room. She stumbled out of the lab, tears streaming down her face. She continued running down the hall until she heard her name.

“Vena!”

Vena froze, staring at her sister.

“What happened to you?” Corria asked, concern in her voice.

“C-Corria?” Vena asked. Vena slowly curled up into a ball, wrapping her tail around herself.

Corria walked over to her little sister, kneeling down and putting her hand on her back.

“You have a snake tail,” she pointed out, “When did that happen?”

Vena looked up at her sister. “M-mom did this…” she replied.

“What?” Corria questioned, standing back up.

Vena continued crying as Corria looked down at her. Corria changed her gaze to the door of her mother’s lab. She quietly walked over to the door and knocked on it, waiting for her mother’s response.

“Yes, come in,” Dr. Amalga called from the other side of the door.

Corria quietly opened the door, walking into the lab.

“M-mom?”

“Yes, Corria, what is it?” Dr. Amalga asked, “Please make it quick your mother is very busy.”

“Why… why did you give Vena a snake tail?” 

Dr. Amalga let out a sigh. “Come over here, Corria.”

Corria obeyed, slowly walking over to her mother.

“Here’s the things, Corria,” Dr. Amalga said, “Science is very important. You understand that, right?”

“Yes,” Corria nodded.

“And you understand that a lot of people don’t think too highly about my science, right?”

“Yes, you’ve told me.”

“So, now do you understand why I did what I did to your sister?”

“I… I don’t know,” Corria responded, “She’s upset. She doesn’t like her tail, mom.”

“Oh, Corria,” Dr. Amalga said, placing her hand gently on her daughter’s cheek. “It doesn’t matter who you hurt if it’s for science.”

Corria stared at her mother with wide eyes.

“If you ever want to be successful in life,” her mother continued, “You can’t be afraid to hurt people, do you understand?”

“Y-yes,” Corria responded.

“That’s a good girl,” Dr. Amalga responded, “I always knew you had more potential than your sister did.”

Corria looked away from her mother.

“Now go on, I still have to finish some things.”

“Ok…”

______________________________________________

It had been a couple months since Dr. Amalga successfully merged Vena with the hypnobrai DNA. Vena still wasn’t used to being part snake. She didn't know if she’d ever get used to it. Corria had also started to get more adventurous. She always tried to convince Vena to go out and explore with her, but she refused, not wanting to go too far. One day, however, Vena finally agreed.

“See? Isn’t this fun” Corria asked with a cheery voice.

“I guess,” Vena responded.

“Oh, come on, lighten up,” Corria replied, “You’ve been acting really grumpy lately.”

“Oh yeah, sorry, I’ve been a little busy coping with the fact that my mother used me for a science experiment,” Vena retorted.

“Just don’t think about it.”

“I literally have I giant tail I have to drag around, how can I just not think about it?”

“I don’t know, geez,” Corria responded.

The two of them were quiet for a little bit until Corria decided to break the silence.

“I think mom’s merging experiments are kinda interesting.”

Vena snapped her head towards Corria, an angry look on her face. “You’re joking, right?”

“No, I’m serious!” Corria argued, “Just like, I think she’s going about it the wrong way. And the term ‘merge’? That’s a dumb name.”

“What would you call them?” Vena asked, rolling her eyes.

“I don’t know, something cool like… a fusion!”

“Ok, that is a much better name,” Vena replied, laughing slightly.

“See?”

Their conversation was interrupted as they heard someone scream.

“S-snake!” a girl cried, pointing at Vena.

Vena started to back away awkwardly.

“Hey! Don’t talk to my sister that way!” Corria yelled.

“Your sister looks scary…” another kid responded nervously.

Without hesitation, Corria punched the kid in the face, causing them to scream and start crying.

“Corria!” Vena yelled in shock.

Corria ignored her sister and continued punching the kid, causing his nose to start bleeding. Eventually, Vena grabbed her sister's arm and dragged her away.

“Corria, stop!” Vena yelled again.

The kid stumbled back slightly before running away, the other kids following in fear.

“That’ll show him!” Corria said, watching the kids run away.

“He was just scared,” Vena replied, “You didn’t need to beat him up!”

“Of course I had to!” Corria defended herself, “I wasn’t gonna let them get away with calling you scary.”

“He had a point…” Vena replied quietly.

“You aren’t scary, Vena,” Corria argued, “Those kids just lack the intelligence that we do.”

“Don’t say stuff like that,” Vena said, “It makes you sound like mom…”

“I’m not like mom!” Corria yelled, “I’m better than she is! And I’ll prove it one day when I become a better scientist than her!”

“Science is stupid,” Vena mumbled.

“It’s not stupid, mom’s just stupid,” Corria replied.

“Whatever. Let's just head back before it gets too dark.”

______________________________________________

As the years went by, Dr. Amalga kept studying the effects of her experiment on Vena. She kept attempting to get Vena to use hypnobrai abilities like hypnosis, but she couldn’t get it to work. Vena continued to get more and more frustrated with her mother until one night she decided to make a bold decision.

The moon was bright in Ninjago. Vena was about ready to leave but was stopped.

“Vena, wait!” Corria called after her, “Vena, you can’t leave!”

“Corria, I have to,” Vena argued, “I can’t take it anymore! I can’t take living here anymore!”

“But what am I gonna do without you?” Corria asked.

Vena sighed. “You can always come with me,” Vena said.

“I…” Corria looked back. “M-mom… if she finds out…”

“She won’t find us,” Vena assured.

Corria shook her head. “But she will…”

Vena stared at Corria quietly. “Alright, I’ll tell you what. I’m going to leave, but I’ll come back and visit, ok?”

“You will?” Corria asked.

“Of course,” Vena replied, “You’re my sister. I could never leave you forever.”

“Promise,” Corria said, “Promise you’ll come back.”

“I promise,” Vena said.

The two of them smiled, giving each other one last hug before Vena left, leaving Corria alone.

______________________________________________

Swift stared at Vena, his face full of shock and a bit of sadness.

“You never went back for her, did you?” Swift asked, his tone gentle.

“I was scared,” Vena admitted, “I was scared of my mother. I eventually went back, but Corria was gone. I haven’t been able to see her in years…”

Swift looked over at the portal stone and then back at Vena. He let out a sigh.

“Ok,” he said, backing away, “Go.”

“What?” Vena questioned, looking back at Swift.

“Go. Use the portal stone,” Swift said, “Go find your sister.”

Vena stared at Swift in silence, the look of complete disbelief on her face.

“I know how important siblings can be,” Swift continued, "I know how important Corria must be to you."

Vena sniffled slightly, a smile on her face. “Thank you…”

She turned to the portal stone, shooting another magic blast at it. Swift stepped back as the portal stone began to glow extremely bright. It rose into the air, spinning around before opening a purple portal. It was impossible to see where the portal led. Vena stared at the portal in disbelief for a moment. She gave one last look at Swift, nodding slightly before going through the portal. The portal closed around her, creating a large blast that knocked Swift onto the ground. The blast also caused the glassy wall to shatter. 

Ridge shielded his eyes briefly before looking over towards Swift.

“Swift!” he yelled, running over to help the pink fusion off of the ground, “What did you do!?”

“I just helped Vena find her sister,” Swift explained.

“Wait, sister?” Ridge questioned.

“Yeah, I know! Vena and Corria are sisters! Who would’ve thought?”

“Swift, you just helped one evil lady meet up with another evil lady,” Ridge argued.

“Yeah, but doesn’t Master Wu say, ‘The best way to defeat an enemy is by making them your friend’?” Swift asked.

“How often does that actually work!?” Ridge yelled.

Swift paused, staring blankly into the distance.

“Now they’re probably gonna team up to take over Ninjago or something!” Ridge continued, “Why would you ever think this was a good idea!?”

Swift abruptly burst into light, throwing Kai and Zane onto the ground.

“HOW COULD WE JUST LET HER MEET UP WITH CORRIA!?” Kai yelled in a panic.

“Don’t look at me, you were the one who got all sentimental about her sibling story!” Zane argued.

“Well you’re the one who got attached to her as a friend!” Kai retorted.

“Guys, guys, enough!” Ridge yelled, “That’s not important! Right now, we need to focus on finding Corria.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yay backstory! I love flashbacks and I was excited to write this chapter. I feel like the pacing could've been a little better, but at the same time, I think Vena would only really talk about major moments so I feel like it fits.  
(Also the story takes place 10-15 years ago cause fhjklkjhgfdfg I'm indecisive)


	19. A Broken Relation

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Vena finally reunites with her sister after not seeing her for years

“What do you mean she got away!?” Nya questioned.

“I mean she got away!” Ridge replied over his communication device, “Swift let her leave.”

“Why would he do that?”

“Can we stop talking about that?” Kai asked, “We made a mistake, ok?”

Nya sighed. “Alright. We’d better hurry up and try to track her down before she can do any damage,” she said, “Come back to the bounty.”

“Already on our way,” Ridge assured.

The three of them were making their way out of Vena’s cave. There were no more shadow creatures wandering around, so it was a lot easier to leave than it was to enter. Ridge led the way out, Kai and Zane walking behind.

“Kai, I am sorry,” Zane apologized.

“Don’t be,” Kai responded, “It’s not your fault. I’m just as much to blame for letting Vena get away.”

Zane stared at Kai. “Do… do you believe what she told us? About Corria and their mother?”

Kai shrugged. “I don’t know,” he answered, “You know her better than I do.”

“I thought I knew her,” Zane said, looking away.

They exited the cave and looked up into the sky where the bounty was waiting for them. Nya lowered the ladder, Ridge starting to climb up followed by Zane and Kai. After they were all on board, the bounty started heading away.

“So, do we have any way of tracking her down?” Ridge asked.

“We might,” Nya replied, “We’ve been able to track her magic before. We might be able to use those signals to find Vena.”

“But what if she isn’t using her magic?” Zane questioned.

“That’s why I said it  _ might _ work,” Nya responded, “We’ve already saved a file of the energy coming off of the portal stone, so we might be able to use that to find where the portal opened to.”

“Alright, this sounds like a plan,” Kai commented, “But we need to hurry. We don’t know what they’re planning.”

Nya nodded. “Pixal, can you study the signals in depth? I’ll take over steering the bounty.”

“Of course,” Pixal replied, letting go of the wheel and walking over to the computer. The others followed, examining the data on the screen.

“Perhaps we should set a scanner to go through Ninjago City,” Zane suggested.

“We’ve already searched the city for Corria,” Ridge responded, “If she had a hideout in the city we would’ve found it by now.”

“What about outside the city?” Kai questioned.

“That would take too long,” Pixal replied. 

They all went quiet as the screen started to beep. 

“What is it?” Ridge asked.

“We’ve picked up a signal,” Pixal informed, “Nya! Head for the desert.”

______________________________________________

Vena looked around the dark room, unsure of where the portal stone led her. 

“Where am I?” she asked quietly. 

She heard some sparks and turned around to see a closed door behind her. She slowly opened it and saw a scientist sitting at a desk, working on something.

“Corria?” Vena questioned.

The scientist turned around, lifting her goggles off of her eyes.

“Oh, Vena!” Corria greeted, “When did you get here?”

“Uh, just now,” Vena responded, “I had to use the portal stone to find you. I’ve been trying to find you for a long time now.”

“Ooh,” Corria replied, “Well isn’t that fancy?”

Corria turned around, going back to work on her invention. Vena looked around, confused.

“Is that it?” Vena asked, “I… I thought you’d be more excited to see me.”

“Hm? Oh yes! It’s good to see you again, Vena!” Corria replied, not turning away from her project.

“Corria, is everything ok?” Vena asked.

“Oh yeah, I’ve just been working on this,” Corria replied, “I lost my blueprints after the ninja defeated me so I have to restart.”

“Restart what?”

“Oh, my fusion rings,” Corria explained, “It was going so well until Cryptor and Pythor decided to betray me.”

“Fusion… rings?”

“Yep! Just attach them to two components and then you can create a fusion!”

“You mean like… what mom was trying to do?”

“No, this is different!” Corria defended, “She wanted to mix two things together. I’m making entirely new creatures, fusions that can fight and defend Ninjago! C’mon, didn’t you hear about all of this on the news?”

“What?”

“It was all over the news, everyone was talking about Vice. He was my first attempt.”

Vena’s eyes went wide. “YOU did that!?”

“Yep!” Corria responded cheerfully, “He was actually really successful.”

Vena shook her head. “Why? Fusions are disgusting! They shouldn’t exist!”

Corria laughed. “Yeah, I can see why you think that,” she said, “I’ve dealt with some pesky fusions before. But my fusions are different. They’ll listen to me and won’t have any free will of their own!”

“That sounds… a little messed up,” Vena responded.

“Ha ha ha!” Corria laughed, “Oh Vena, you’re funny. Yeah it’s a little messed up, but everyone seems to love the ninja’s fusions, so why should mine be different?”

“Ugh, tell me about it,” Vena said, “Those ninja and their fusions have been making my life a nightmare! All I wanted to do was find you, but they had to keep trying to stop me!”

“Well you’re here now,” Corria stated, “Did you defeat the ninja?”

“Well, uh, no,” Vena admitted, “Actually, pinky let me escape.”

“What? Why would he do that?”

“I… don’t know. But the point is I’m here now, and we can finally catch up on everything!”

“Aww, that sounds like fun!” Corria replied, “But I’m a little busy.”

“Oh yeah, your science stuff…” Vena replied awkwardly.

The two of them went quiet for a moment until Corria’s computer turned on and started loudly beeping.

“What’s going on!?” Vena asked, raising her voice to hear herself over the beeping.

“It’s the ninja,” Corria responded, surprisingly calm, “Looks like they found my hidden underground lab.”

“Wait, you have a hidden underground lab?” Vena questioned.

“Yeah, that’s where we are now, silly,” Corria explained, “I had to hide it underground so the ninja wouldn’t find it!”

Corria clicked something on her computer, causing the beeping to stop. A video popped up showing both Ridge and Swift outside the hidden entrance.

“Oh, it’s those two!” Corria replied.

“Let me go handle this,” Vena urged, “I’ve fought them before.”

“No, I want to test out one of my new inventions,” Corria replied, “I just need them to go through the hallway and I can test it.”

Vena looked at Corria nervously, deciding to trust her sister’s judgement. They both watched the computer screen.

______________________________________________

“So this is where Corria’s been this whole time,” Ridge commented as they walked down the hall, “Who knew she had a secret underground lab?”

“Eh, I feel like I could’ve guessed that,” Swift replied, shrugging.

“Ok, sure,” Ridge responded sarcastically, “Hopefully this is where they are and we can kill two birds with one stone.”

Suddenly, the fusions both stopped. The hallway lit up as two laser guns popped out of the walls, pointing towards both of the fusions.

“What the?” Ridge questioned, “What are those things?”

“I don’t know but-” Before Swift could finish, the lasers shot out beams of light at the fusions. They both screamed in pain as their bodies turned into light. The lasers stopped, splitting the fusions apart. The four ninja all lay on the ground weakly. 

“It worked!” Corria cheered, watching the ninja on her computer screen.

“You… made them unfuse!” Vena replied in shock, “What else could you do with that technology?”

Corria giggled. “I see what you want. You want me to destroy their fusions, don’t you?”

“How did you-”

“Vena, I’m your big sister,” Corria said, “I know you.”

Vena looked up at the ninja on the screen nervously.

“I could test it out, but I’d need one of the fusions as a test subject,” Corria continued, “Anyone in particular you want to see?”

“Uhh…” Vena responded nervously. She looked away, grabbing her arm.

Corria quickly pulled out a device. She poked Vena with it, causing a small shock.

“OW! What the heck!?” Vena hissed.

“Oops, sorry!” Corria apologized, “This is a prototype mind reading machine I’ve been working on,” she explained. She looked down at the device. “Ooo, the grey one! Good choice!”

“Wait, I-”

Before Vena could say anything else, Corria had already pushed a button on her computer.

The ninja were all slowly sitting up.

“Ow, my head,” Jay said, “Is everyone ok?”

“Yeah, we’re fine,” Cole replied, “But what just happened?”

Before the ninja could start to process what had happened, the floor suddenly dropped underneath Cole and Zane.

“ACK!” they both yelled as they fell down, the floor closing back after the fell.

“Cole! Zane!” Jay shouted.

“What happened!?” Kai yelled, “Where’d they go!?”

“I don’t know!” Jay replied, panicked.

Corria and Vena were both still in the computer room. A part of the ceiling opened up, the two of them waiting as they heard Cole and Zane approaching. The two ninja fell out of the hole, landing on the ground. Vena stepped back as she saw both of them, a nervous look on her face.

Cole shook his head before looking up at Vena and Corria.

“You!” he yelled, “What are you two planning!?”

“Cole, I-”

“I’m glad you asked!” Corria cut her sister off, “I’m just testing a couple things, don’t worry about it.”

Corria pulled out another device. It looked like a smaller version of the device she used to split up the fusions. She aimed it at Cole and Zane, shooting the laser at the two of them. They both screamed as they turned to light, forcefully forming Techtonic. Techtonic continued to lay on the ground, breathing heavily, Vena staring down at him.

“Good! This thing works too!” Corria said.

“How many inventions do you have!” Vena questioned.

Corria shrugged, “I’ve just had a lot of free time,” she replied, “Now c’mon! Help me carry him into the other room before he gets enough strength to fight back!”

Corria walked over, grabbing one of Techtonic’s arms. He looked up weakly at Vena, unable to find the strength to say anything. Vena hesitated before grabbing his other arm, helping Corria drag him.

“Ugh, why is he so heavy?” Vena asked.

“Nindroid…” Techtonic responded quietly.

Corria laughed. “He’s funny,” she commented, “I see why you wanted to see him.”

Vena looked away, saying nothing. 

They entered the other room and lifted Techtonic onto the table, strapping him down in vengestone so he couldn’t escape.

“Alright, back to the computer,” Corria said as she started to exit the room. She stopped, looking back at Vena after noticing she wasn’t following. “Vena? Are you coming.”

“One moment,” Vena responded.

“Oh, I see,” Corria said, “You wanna take a moment to gloat. I’ll leave you to it then.” Corria left, closing the door behind her.

Vena let out a sigh, looking away from Techtonic.

“Vena,” Techtonic said, his voice stern, “You won’t get away with this.”

“With what? Destroying you?” Vena questioned.

“Fleet will show up and stop you,” Techtonic insisted, “He’s a lot stronger than you think.”

“I know,” Vena responded, “I already know all of this.”

“Why don’t you just go follow your sister,” Techtonic said, “Unless you want to taunt me a little more first.”

Vena sighed, turning away. “Whatever,” she said, “It doesn’t matter.” 

She left, going back into the computer room. She looked over at the computer screen and saw Kai and Jay on the monitor, both of them tied up.

“Oh, Vena, you just missed it!” Corria said, “They tried to fuse but then I shot them with vengestone rope!” Corria started laughing, Vena looking at her sister with slight concern on her face. “Now nobody can stop us!” She gestured for Vena to come closer. Vena obeyed, walking over to the computer desk. “With one push of a button, that grey fusion will be no more!” Corria pointed to a big button on the desk. She typed on her computer, changing the video to display Techtonic in the other room. “This device will make it so the black one and the white one won’t be able to fuse with each other anymore! Or, at least that’s what it’s supposed to do. I haven’t tested it, they might die, but this is for science so it’s ok.” She looked over at Vena, a smile on her face. “Care to do the honors?”

Vena stared at Techtonic on the screen and then down at the button. She said nothing, just looking at the button nervously.

“A little nervous?” Corria asked, “That’s ok, I’ll do it.”

Corria was about to push the button but got interrupted.

“NO!” Vena yelled, grabbing Corria’s arm.

Corria looked at Vena, confused. “Vena?”

“Corria, you can’t do this!” Vena yelled.

“I thought you said you hated the ninja’s fusions,” Corria responded, “And I always thought this one was especially annoying after he wrecked my lab.”

“No, Techtonic’s different,” Vena argued.

“Oh, you gave him a name! How funny!”

“No, that’s his ACTUAL name!” Vena explained.

“Actual name?” Corria questioned, “You realize he’s not a real person, right? He’s a fusion! Ha ha ha ha ha!”

Vena stared at Corria in disbelief. “What happened to you?”

Corria paused, going completely silent as she stared at her sister. “What happened to me? What happened to you?” she questioned, “You told me you were gonna come back, and you didn’t,” Corria’s voice started to get softer as she spoke, “But hey, you were trying to defeat the ninja, so I guess it isn’t all bad. And now you can help me with the grey one, so in a way, the wait was worth it!”

Vena looked away nervously, closing her eyes as she pondered her sisters words. She opened her eyes again, giving her sister a stern look.

“No,” Vena stated.

“What?” Corria questioned.

“Techtonic is my friend! I won’t let you hurt him!”

Corria stared at Vena in complete disbelief and shock. “Heh,” she smiled, “Ha ha ha, HA HA HA HA HA HA!” Corria started laughing, tears beginning to form in her eyes, “I should have known! I should have known you would never  _ really  _ come back! Ha ha ha!” Corria turned away, Vena giving her a concerned look. “You know, I remember that day like it was yesterday,” Corria continued, “You told me you were gonna come back, and everyday, I waited. I stayed and I waited for you. I had to deal with mom, day after day. Constantly talking about you and how you were a disappointment. I couldn’t argue because then I would be punished. But I always thought about you because I thought you cared about me.”

“Corria, I-”

“I should’ve known you were just using me,” Corria responded, turning to Vena, a twisted smile on her face, “You said I was the only one you needed, but now I’ve been replaced by a fusion, an  _ object.  _ A robot trying to be human, no, not even a robot. He’s a thing. A thing who wants to be a person.”

“Corria, that’s not true!” Vena argued, trying to reason with her.

“Is that all I am to you!?” Corria yelled, “A thing for you to throw away!? I thought you were my sister! I thought we would always be there for each other!”

“Corria, I  _ am  _ here for you,” Vena responded, “You just need to calm down.”

“Calm down?” Corria questioned. She started laughing again. “How can I calm down when my own sister betrayed me?” She turned back to the computer screen, watching Techtonic struggle to free himself. “He took you away, didn’t he?” Corria questioned, “He took you away from me, so now I’m taking him away from you.” Corria attempted to press the button again, but this time, Vena shot a spell at the button, covering it in a small, glassy dome so Corria couldn’t push it.

“I won’t let you,” Vena said, “I won’t let you hurt my friend.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry about all this Vena focus, but I feel like it's important for her character. Hope you guys don't mind too much.


	20. One of Two Sides

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Vena has to decide which side she's on while the ninja must prepare to fight Dr. Corria once again.

“You leave for YEARS and you only come back to BETRAY ME!?” Corria yelled.

“Corria, this is crazy!” Vena argued.

“Crazy? You’re the one who thinks this fusion is your friend!” Corria retaliated, “What has he ever done to prove he was a friend? How do you know he wasn’t just using you?”

Vena couldn’t think of a response. She just stared at her sister silently. 

Corria began laughing. “You’re imagining things, Vena,” she said, “You’re pretending he cares about you.”

“Well at least I feel like he cared about me!” Vena snapped, “At least he acted like he cared! At least he asked me for my opinion on things!”

“Are you saying I don’t care?” Corria asked.

“You don’t care about how I feel,” Vena said, “You only care about your little experiments. You’re just like mom.”

“DO NOT COMPARE ME TO HER!” Corria shouted. She slammed her hand on the computer’s keyboard. Multiple guns popped out of the walls, all aiming for Vena. Corria was about to press the button to fire them, but Vena retaliated by shooting a spell at Corria, knocking her out and causing her to fall asleep.

Vena stared at her sister’s body, breathing heavily before running into the other room. 

Techtonic looked at her, slight confusion on his face as she entered the room.

“What are you doing?” he asked.

Vena was at the side of the table, undoing the clamps that held Techtonic in place. “I’m getting you out of here,” She replied. Techtonic was freed and he sat up. “Go, get out of here!” Vena ordered.

“Why are you doing this?” Techtonic asked.

“Just get out of here before Corria wakes up!” Vena yelled.

Techtonic got off of the table, looking at Vena. “Is this a trap?”

“Stop asking questions and get out of here before she tries to kill you!”

A tiny robot moved over to Corria, poking her cheek and shocking her slightly, causing her to wake up.

“Wha-” Corria said, shaking her head. She sat up and looked over into the other room, the door open. She saw Vena talking to Techtonic, her eyes going wide. She quickly picked herself up, reaching for her light gun.

“Vena, I don’t understand,” Techtonic continued to question her.

Vena looked over and saw Corria, aiming her light gun for Techtonic.

“Look out!” Vena yelled, pushing Techtonic out of the way.

Corria fired a beam of light at Vena, shocking her body and making her fall over in pain.

“Vena!” Techtonic yelled, staring down at her. He turned towards Corria. He was taken aback as he saw her face full of fury, something he hadn’t seen before.

“First you destroy my lab,” Corria said, “Now you destroy my own sister!”

“Me?” Techtonic questioned angrily, “You’re the one who just shot her!”

“You destroyed her mind!” Corria yelled, “You messed with her head! You took her away from me!”

“I didn’t do anything!” Techtonic defended.

“Shut up,” Corria yelled, aiming her gun at Techtonic.

Techtonic quickly summoned his crossbow, shooting at Corria’s gun and knocking it out of her hand. 

“Vena, we have to get out of here!” Techtonic urged.

“Go… without me,” Vena ordered.

“I can’t leave you!”

“Yes you can,” Vena replied.

Using the rest of her energy, she shot out a smoky blast at Techtonic, surrounding his body with the purple smoke. Techtonic looked around frantically as he started to teleport away. As the smoke cleared, Corria looked down at her sister, laying on the ground.

“You let him get away,” Corria said angrily.

“I…” Vena replied softly, out of energy. She felt her head fall over as everything went black.

______________________________________________

Techtonic felt himself appear somewhere else in Corria’s lab. He looked around confused.

“Techtonic!”

Techtonic turned around to see Kai and Jay still tied up.

“What happened?” Jay asked, “Where’s Corria and Vena?”

“I…” Techtonic said, not knowing how to respond. He shook his head. “Let’s get out of here.”

He untied the two ninja, both of them standing up. They all started running out of Corria’s lab.

“I don’t understand,” Kai said, “Why are we leaving? I thought we came here to fight Corria and Vena.”

“We can’t” Techtonic replied, “She has too much technology to beat us with.”

“Techtonic, how did you escape?” Jay asked.

Techtonic said nothing, he just kept running. 

They got to the exit, Techtonic holding the door for Jay and Kai to run out before closing the door behind them. They all looked up and saw the bounty in the sky waiting for them. The ladder was lowered down, so they all started to climb up. They reached the top and climbed into the bounty.

“How’d everything go?” Nya asked.

“Well, we didn’t catch them,” Kai responded, “But then again, Jay and I don’t really know what happened.”

Everyone looked over at Techtonic who was staring at the floor nervously.

“Techtonic?” Nya questioned, “What happened?”

“I… I still don’t understand,” Techtonic responded, “Vena saved me. She helped me escape.”

“What!?” The others questioned, shocked.

“I… perhaps she isn’t truly evil after all,” Techtonic said.

The others looked at each other, confused and worried looks on their faces.

“But what about Corria?” Jay asked.

“She… she’s still crazy,” Techtonic replied, “She was trying to kill me before Vena teleported me away.”

“What do you mean she was trying to kill you?” Nya asked, “Can fusions be ‘killed’?”

“I don’t know, it’s just what Vena told me,” Techtonic replied, “But knowing Corria, she’ll probably find a way.”

“What are we gonna do now?” Jay asked.

Everyone was silent for a while, no one knowing what to say. Finally, Nya broke the silence.

“Right now, we go back to the monastery and figure out what to do there.”

“What about Vena?” Jay asked, “Are we just gonna leave her there.”

“It’s all we can do for now,” Nya replied, “Corria’s too much of a threat. We can’t go running in without a plan.” She turned to Pixal. “Head back to the monastery.”

Pixal nodded, turning to the steering wheel and steering the bounty towards the monastery. Everyone was still standing in the control room until Techtonic quietly started walking away.

“Techtonic?” Kai questioned, turning to him.

“I just need to be alone right now,” Techtonic said, not even looking at Kai.

Kai said nothing in response. He and Jay looked at each other before turning back to Techtonic, watching him walk away.

Techtonic made his way to the cabin and sat down on one of the beds. He looked down at his hands.

“What do we do?” he asked himself, “What do we do with Vena? She… she tried to kill Fleet, but then she saved us, I don’t understand…” Techtonic could feel himself start to split apart. He tried to hold himself together. “What do we do!?” Finally, he split into Cole and Zane, both of them falling onto the ground.

“We have to go back for her!” Zane urged.

“We can’t,” Cole replied, “We need a plan.”

“She… she’s our friend,” Zane responded, starting to get quieter, “She really did care about us, about Techtonic.”

Cole sighed. “I guess she did,” he replied, “Don’t worry. We’ll go save her after we figure out how.”

______________________________________________

“Why?” Corria was pacing back at forth, Vena was still unconscious and laying on a table. “Why would she betray me like this? How could she think a fusion is her friend?”

Corria was disrupted from her thoughts as she saw Vena move slightly. Vena groaned quietly as she sat up, rubbing her head. She let out a little gasp as she saw Corria.

“I see you’re awake,” Corria commented.

“Corria,” Vena replied, “What are you gonna do with me?”

“Listen, Vena, you’re my sister, so I’ll go easy on you,” Corria stated, “I’ll give you one more chance to help me.”

“What do you mean?” Vena asked.

“Help me defeat the ninja. I saw what you did to the grey one. You teleported him away even though you were extremely weak. If we work together, we can defeat them easily.”

“Why would you trust me? After all, I helped the ninja escape.”

“Oh, Vena,” Corria laughed, “You just had some bad judgement, that’s all. You probably couldn’t think straight after you got shot with the light beam.”

Vena looked away from her sister in silence.

“Think about how annoying those ninja are,” Corria instructed, “They’ve probably messed up your plans multiple times, haven’t they?

“Yeah…” Vena admitted.

“They never cared about you,” Corria continued, “I’m your sister, Vena. Remember what we always told each other? We’re here for each other. And right now, I need you.”

Vena looked back at her sister, staring at her eyes, trying to read her emotions. It was impossible to tell what Corria was feeling. Vena shook her head.

“Ok,” she agreed, “I’ll help you.”

______________________________________________

The ninja had finally arrived at the monastery. They were sitting around, coming up with possible plans.

“We don’t know what Corria’s planning,” Kai stated, “So how are we supposed to come up with a plan?”

“I don’t know,” Nya admitted, “Master Wu, what do think we should do?”

“I’m unsure,” Master Wu said, “It is difficult to plan for the unknown.”

“That’s what I’m saying!” Kai replied.

“What if we just go back to her base and ambush her?” Jay suggested.

“That’s what we tried last time,” Cole reminded.

“So what are we supposed to do? Wait for an attack on Ninjago City?” Jay asked.

Suddenly, Pixal ran into the room.

“Everyone, Ninjago City is under attack!” she announced.

“Well then,” Jay responded, “Guess we need to go to Ninjago City.”

“Alright guys, let’s go!” Kai replied.

The ninja arrived in the city and saw a bunch of familiar nindroids wandering around and attacking random citizens.

“Wait, aren’t those Corria’s nindroids?” Jay asked.

“I didn’t know she still had nindroids left,” Cole replied.

“Especially this many!” Kai added.

“We can’t get distracted,” Zane interrupted, “We must take out the nindroids!”

“Oh, look, the ninja!”

The ninja all stopped, looking forward as the nindroids moved out of the way for Corria to walk up.

“I’ve been expecting you,” she greeted.

“Corria!” Cole yelled, “What are you doing?”

“Oh, I was just trying to get your attention,” she explained, “I knew you’d show up to try and defeat my nindroids.”

“What do you want us for?” Kai asked.

“Simple, I just want to help my dear sister get her revenge.”

The ninja all watched in shock as Vena walked up to stand next to her sister.

“Vena?” Zane questioned, “Why are you siding with her?”

“She’s my sister,” Vena replied, “She’s the only one who cares about me.”

“It doesn’t have to be like this,” Cole tried to reason with her, “You saved us once, you don’t have to side with Corria!”

Vena shook her head. “So now you care about me? After I betrayed my sister, NOW you want to be my friend?”

“What?” Cole questioned.

“Vena, it isn’t like that,” Zane replied.

Vena narrowed her eyes, a small trace of sadness in her eyes.

“Whatever, let’s just get to fighting!” Kai urged, “She’s not gonna listen so why bother?”

“I agree,” Corria added, “I’ve been waiting to get into the fighting!” She pulled out a blaster, it looked different from her light gun, aiming it towards Kai. She shot a blast, giving Kai no time to react, but he was quickly pushed out of the way as Zane ran in to save him. The two of them tumbled out of the way, quickly turning into a ball of light. Swift formed, immediately summoning two darts.

Swift started running towards Corria, but was stopped as multiple nindroids charged towards him. He jumped out of the way, causing the nindroids to run into each other.

“You know, Ridge, I’ve got to thank you,” Corria said, “If it wasn’t for you, Vena and I never would’ve been able to do any of this.”

Swift gave Corria a confused look. “Ridge? I’m Swift.”

“Oh whatever, just be glad I remembered one of your names,” Corria retorted. She started shooting at Swift again, but he easily dodged every blast. 

Cole and Jay both looked at each other, deciding to fuse together to help Swift.

Suddenly, Swift was hit with a dark blast. He landed in a pile of rubble and shook his head as he looked up. Vena slowly approached him, glaring at the fusion.

“Vena!” Swift yelled, “To think I thought there was any good in you.”

“Shut up!” Vena yelled. She shot a dark spike from the ground, but Swift moved out of the way, only his arm getting scratched. He winced as he held his arm in pain.

“I helped you!” Swift yelled, “And this is how you repay me!?”

“All you fusions are the same,” Vena replied, “You’re all such a pain to deal with! I wish all of you were as weak as Ridge. Then you’d be easy to take- AGH!” Vena was cut off as she was hit by a giant crystal shooting out of the ground. Swift looked over in shock to see Ridge in his true potential form, pure anger on his face.

“Nice work, Ridge!” Swift called, but Ridge didn’t seem to hear him.

Ridge jumped over towards Vena, creating cracks in the ground as he landed.

“You go take care of Corria,” Ridge ordered, “I’m taking Vena.”

Swift nodded, standing up and running off.

“What the!? When did you-”

“I’m not as weak as you think I am,” Ridge said. He grabbed Vena by her arm, swinging her around before throwing her towards a wall. Vena managed to stop the impact with a shield, landing on the ground on her feet. She turned to Ridge, summoning her scythe. Ridge summoned his flail, a more crystal-like look appearing on it. He ran up and swung his flail towards Vena. She tried to slice the rope with her scythe, but it didn’t do anything. The flail swung around, hitting her in the side. Ridge stomped on the ground, shooting different types of crystals into the air. He made a gesture with his hands, causing the crystals to shoot towards Vena. Vena used her scythe to block each crystal, knocking them onto the ground and making them shatter on impact. While she was distracted, Ridge ran in and punched her side, pushing her back slightly and making her drop her scythe. He went in for another punch, but Vena moved out of the way, shooting Ridge with a dark energy blast. Ridge retaliated, roughly grabbing Vena’s wrist. He was getting ready to shoot more crystals at her when he heard Swift screaming.

“Swift?” Ridge questioned, turning around to see Swift falling to the ground next to Corria. He released Vena, his body fading back to normal. “SWIFT!”

Swift turned to light, splitting back into Kai and Zane.

“Ha ha ha!” Corria laughed, “I’m going to enjoy this,” she aimed her gun towards the two ninja.

“Hold up!” Ridge yelled, running towards them.

Corria looked over at him, distracted. Kai and Zane slowly started to sit up.

Suddenly, Ridge started turning into light, spinning around. The others looked at him confused, only Zane realizing what he was doing. As Ridge split apart, Cole quickly threw Jay towards the others, giving them no time to react. Zane watched as Jay came flying towards him, preparing himself. Jay crashed into Zane, but Corria was still watching Cole.

“What was that!?” Corria questioned, “Your aim is terrible! I- ACK!” Corria was interrupted as a jolt of electricity shocked her body.

“He wasn’t aiming for you,” Chip taunted as Corria fell over.

“Chip!” Kai replied.

“Stay focussed, Kai,” Chip responded, “This battle’s just getting started.”

Kai looked around as the army of nindroids slowly started closing in on them.

“Don’t worry,” Kai said, “We can take them.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm sorry it's been so long, I know it's been like, a week, maybe more? I don't remember. I just haven't found the time to proofread this chapter and I also had to rewrite it so yeah, it took me a lot longer to finish than I thought it would.   
Anyway, hope you guys liked this chapter. Not entirely sure when I'll get around to writing the next chapter so it may be a while... I've been pretty tired lately and haven't had much motivation to work on stuff, but hopefully I start feeling better soon


	21. Choosing Sides

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The ninja continue to fight Corria and Vena

The nindroids started to slowly surround the ninja. Corria was still on the ground, attempting to get back up. Chip quickly kicked her gun away so she wouldn’t be able to grab it. He turned back to see a nindroid shooting a blast at him, so he quickly jumped out of the way. 

“Kai, look out!” Chip called, summoning his slingshot to shoot the nindroid that was about to attack.

“Thanks,” Kai replied, drawing his sword. 

He quickly disarmed another nindroid before shooting a ball of fire towards another one. Cole jumped in, smashing another nindroid with his hammer.

“How bout we use a little more fire power?” Cole asked.

Kai nodded, a smirk on his face.

The two ninja quickly grabbed each other, forming into light as a crowd of nindroids surrounded them. Before they could do anything, Vulcan formed, instantly pushing all of them back.

“Alright, now the fight can REALLY begin!” Vulcan smirked as he summoned his axe.

“Vulcan!” Chip cheered. He quickly shot a blast of ice at a nindroid.

As more nindroids approached Vulcan, he jumped back towards Chip. He punched his fist into the ground causing a barrage of rocks to jut out, sending the nindroids flying back.

“Easy,” Vulcan taunted, “AGH!” he yelled as he got shot with a blast.

“Vulcan!” Chip yelled, reaching his hand out, “Are you ok?”

“Yeah, I’m fine,” Vulcan replied.

“You two are pathetic,” Vena said as she walked up to the fusions, “You two pretend to care about each other, but I’ve seen how you two are deep down.”

“Shut up, Vena,” Vulcan demanded, “You don’t know anything.”

Vena shrugged. “I see why you think that,” she replied, “I always did think you were the dangerous one, but him,” she turned her gaze towards Chip, “He’s a monster.”

Chip flinched, taking a step back.

“No he isn’t!” Vulcan yelled, “Chip is one of the nicest people I’ve ever met!”

“Are you serious?” Vena asked, “You saw what he did when he got a taste of true power. It didn’t take long for him to snap.”

Chip looked away, unable to respond to Vena’s words. A nindroid approached him, but Vulcan quickly attacked it with his axe before it could hurt Chip.

“Don’t listen to her, Chip!” Vulcan assured, “She doesn’t know what she’s talking about!”

Chip was still silent, avoiding Vulcan’s eye contact.

“He knows I’m right,” Vena continued, “He can’t even argue with me!”

“RAGH!” Vulcan yelled, swinging his axe at Vena. “SHUT YOUR MOUTH!”

“I guess that’s your problem,” Vena said, dodging Vulcan’s attacks, “You get angry too easily.”

Vulcan shot a fireball at Vena, knocking her back.

“I think my anger is pretty justified this time,” Vulcan replied with narrow eyes.

“Hmph, so be it,” Vena said. 

She shot another blast at Vulcan, but he blocked it with his axe. He ran in to swing his axe again, but Vena quickly summoned a dark spike from the ground to block the attack. Vulcan’s axe got stuck in the spike, so he abandoned it, instead aiming a punch towards the half snake. He hit Vena in the side, knocking her back. Vena held her side in pain, but quickly got up again. She shot a shadowy hand towards Vulcan, grabbing him and trapping him. She smacked him into the ground, leaving a visible impact. Vulcan screamed in pain as Vena continued smashing his body into the ground.

“Chip!” Vulcan yelled, “I could use some help!”

Chip continued to stand to the side, staring down at his hands. He seemed to be in his own little world, unable to hear Vulcan.

_ What if I hurt him again?  _ Chip asked himself,  _ I’m gonna hurt him again, I know it! Why? Why can’t I stop myself!? _

Chip kneeled down, placing his hands on the sides of his head.

_ WHAT’S WRONG WITH ME!? _

Chip could feel his surroundings start to get colder.

“Chip!” Vulcan yelled again as he felt his body get weaker. 

He somehow managed to create a fiery blast from his body, destroying Vena’s shadow hand and knocking her onto the ground. 

Vulcan fell to the ground and took a moment to catch his breath as he stood up. He looked over at Chip whose body was becoming surrounded by frost and tiny sparks of lightning.

“Chip!” Vulcan yelled, running over towards the other fusion. He quickly kneeled down next to him, placing his hand on his back, frost and lightning surging through his body. He winced a bit but fought through the pain to comfort the pale blue ninja. “Chip, it’s ok.”

Chip finally looked up at Vulcan, his eyes wide with fear.

“V-Vulcan?” Chip stuttered.

“Don’t listen to Vena, she doesn’t know you, she’s just trying to get in your head,” Vulcan assured.

“But… but I…” Chip mumbled, unable to form a full sentence.

Vulcan looked over at Vena who was standing back up. She charged a shot towards the two fusions, sending the large blast towards them. Vulcan quickly pushed Chip to the side, taking the full blast.

“VULCAN!” Chip screamed.

Unable to hold himself together from the pain, Vulcan split apart, despite his efforts to stay together. Chip turned back to Vena, fury in his eyes.

“YOU’RE GONNA PAY FOR THAT!” he yelled, standing up. He shot a massive blast towards her, Vena staring, unable to move from a mix of shock and fear. She was sent flying back, her body hitting a wall before falling to the ground. Chip turned back towards Cole and Kai, running over to check up on them “Are you two ok?”

“Ugh, yeah,” Kai replied, “And you?”

“I’m fine,” Chip replied.

“Wait, where’d Corria go?” Cole asked.

The three of them looked around, but couldn’t see her. Suddenly, Chip’s body was shocked by a strange energy. His body fell over and Cole and Kai looked over to see Corria grinning while holding her gun. Chip quickly split apart back into Jay and Zane.

“You ninja are so stupid,” Corria taunted, “You let your emotions control you. It makes it a lot easier to fight you.”

“We beat you once, we can beat you again!” Kai yelled.

“Actually, if I remember correctly, I almost had you beat,” Corria replied, "It was Cryptor and Pythor who betrayed me and stopped me.”

“Whatever,” Kai argued, “We’ve fought plenty of villains, you’re nothing!” 

“Quiet!” Corria yelled, “Nindroids, get them!”

The nindroids started closing in around the ninja once more.

“Uh, guys,” Jay said, “She’s already beaten all of our fusions. What more can we do?”

“Not all of them,” Kai reminded.

“Kai is right,” Zane agreed, “We still have Fleet and Techtonic.”

“What are they gonna do?” Cole asked, “We’re already getting weaker from using our other fusions.”

“It’s worth a shot,” Kai said, “Besides, what else can we do?”

“Alright then,” Jay responded, “What are we waiting for? Let’s do this!”

Jay began charging lightning around his body while Kai started using his fire. They grabbed each other and fused into Fleet, instantly shooting out a fiery blast as he formed. 

“Take that!” Fleet taunted. He turned towards Cole and Zane. “I’m going after Vena,” he said.

“Fleet, wait!” Cole called after him as he started running off.

“Let him go,” Zane replied, “He can handle it.”

Vena was finally starting to recover from Chip’s attack. Before she could react, a lighting blast shot towards her, just barely missing her. She turned towards Fleet.

“We’ve got some unfinished business,” Fleet said.

Vena rolled her eyes. “Give it up already!” she yelled.

Fleet shot out a blast of fire at her. Vena shielded it, but was pushed back.

“I don’t see why Techtonic cared about you so much,” Fleet continued, “You’re evil, that’s all you’ll ever be.”

Vena quickly shot a blast at Fleet knocking him back slightly. “SHUT UP!” she yelled, “You think just because you’re the hero, you’re right about everything!? Just because YOU know Techtonic means I don’t!?”

Vena shot out multiple spikes from the ground, Fleet jumping away from each of them. She managed to back him into a wall where he couldn’t escape anymore. Vena stomped over to him, but instead of shooting a magic blast at him, she punched him in the face.

“You don’t know me,” she growled, “You just assume every villain you fight is completely heartless.”

“That’s not true!” Fleet argued.

“Give an example,” Vena ordered.

Fleet stopped for a moment as he tried to think of something, but couldn’t come up with anything.

“That’s what I thought,” Vena responded, holding up another fist. She surrounded it with dark crystals as she prepared to punch Fleet again.

“Vena!”

Vena stopped, turning her head to look at Techtonic who was glaring at her.

“Let him go,” Techtonic ordered.

Vena lowered her fist, narrowing her eyes at Techtonic.

Techtonic walked over and Vena let Fleet go.

“Techtonic, I can handle this!” Fleet argued.

“No,” Techtonic replied, “Let me handle her.”

Fleet stared up at Techtonic before turning towards Vena again. He shook his head. “Alright,” he said, “You can handle this.”

Fleet ran off, presumably to fight Corria. Techtonic and Vena both looked at each other, neither of them looking ready to fight.

“So,” Vena said, “You wanna fight me, huh?”

Techtonic shook his head. “Master Wu told us that the best way to defeat your enemy is to make them your friend,” he said, “Vena, I know you aren’t a terrible person. You can do good if you try.”

Vena looked at Techtonic, her eyes going wide. “No,” she replied, “I already hurt you guys. I helped Corria, I’m helping her right now! How can you still see good in me!?”

“Because you’ve already shown me,” Techtonic replied, “You helped me escape from Corria. Even now, you could’ve easily taken me out, but you’re choosing to listen to me.”

Vena paused for a moment before turning away. “I… I still think you’re wrong about me…”

“I know I won’t be able to change your mind,” Techtonic continued, “I can’t make you choose what side you’re on. But just know I won’t fight you. Because I don’t fight friends.”

Vena blinked in surprise. She turned back towards Techtonic, but saw that he was gone. She looked around and saw him fighting more of Corria’s nindroids. Vena stared down at her hands before clenching them into fists. 

“Ugh! You’ve always been so annoying to deal with!” Corria yelled, rapidly shooting her gun.

“Yeah, being annoying is kinda my thing,” Fleet bragged, dodging Corria’s attacks effortlessly, “I feel like you could relate.” 

Fleet shot a blast of lightning at Corria, knocking her gun out of her hand. Before she could run over to grab it, Fleet quickly summoned his kusarigama and used it to tie her up.

“Ack!” Corria yelled as she fell onto the ground.

“Looks like our job here is done,” Fleet said, walking up to the scientist, “I would say I’m surprised, but- WHAH!” Fleet was interrupted as a nindroid attacked him. He fell over and the nindroid quickly grabbed the fusion, making him unable to move. Corria began to laugh as she freed herself.

“You really are an idiot,” Corria taunted, “And it looks like your little friend isn’t doing too well either.”

Fleet looked over to see Techtonic getting swarmed with nindroids until they all grabbed him so he couldn’t fight back.

“Techtonic!” Fleet yelled.

The nindroids dragged Techtonic over towards Corria. A lone nindroid also gave Corria her gun back. Corria laughed again.

“Looks like you lost,” she said, “And I won.” Corria looked over as Vena approached her. “Ah, Vena, thank you for all your help.”

Vena stood next to her sister and looked down at Techtonic.

“You know,” Corria continued, “I wouldn’t have been able to do this without you.”

“Well then,” Vena replied, “Sorry for wasting your time.”

“What?” Before Corria could ask anything else, Vena knocked her sister onto the ground. Corria looked up at her sister in horror. “Vena!”

Vena looked at Corria with somber eyes as she blasted a spell at Corria. Corria coughed as the smoke cleared, looking down at her hands to see a pair of purple handcuffs around her wrists. She looked back at her sister, but Vena was silent.

“Vena,” Techtonic said softly.

Vena turned towards Fleet and Techtonic, shooting at the nindroids that were holding them.

“I’m sorry, did I miss something?” Fleet asked, “Why are you helping us?”   
“Exactly!” Corria yelled, “I’m your sister! Why would you help the enemy!?”

Vena turned back towards Corria. “You may be my sister, but you don’t really care about me. You only care about my powers.”

Corria stared at Vena in shock. She then started wriggling, trying to free herself from her handcuffs. “You can’t do this!” she yelled, “You can’t send me away! I’m your sister, you can’t!”   
“I have to do what’s right,” Vena replied. She turned back to Techtonic. “This is the right thing to do.”

Techtonic gave Vena a soft smile.

“Ok, ok,” Fleet interrupted, “What do we do with Corria?”

“Send her to Kryptarium,” Techtonic replied, “She belongs there.”

“Ok,” Fleet agreed, “But what about Vena?”

“You guys can send me to Kryptarium, too,” Vena replied, “After all the things I did, I belong there.”

“We’re not sending you to Kryptarium,” Techtonic assured, “Kryptarium is for evil people.”

Vena stared at Techtonic. Without hesitation, she hugged the fusion, holding tight. Fleet watched in confusion and also slight annoyance.

“Thank you,” Vena said softly, “Thank you for everything.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Alright, this fic is almost done. There's probably only gonna be one or two chapters left. I don't know when I'll write them, I've been getting really distracted lately, but hopefully I get around to writing them soon


	22. Resolution

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The ninja and Vena resolve their problems

The ninja were at Kryptarium Prison to drop off Corria after they captured her. They brought Vena with them to help keep watch on Corria as they locked her up. Vena gave a glance to her sister, but Corria continued looking straight ahead.

“I know this is hard,” Vena said quietly, “For both of us…” Vena watched as one of the guards locked Corria in her cell. “Despite everything, you’re still my sister.”

Suddenly, Corria started laughing. “HA HA HA HA!” she bellowed. She turned to Vena, staring directly into her eyes. “Silly Vena. I have no sister.”

Vena flinched back. She covered her mouth and turned away.

“Shut up, Corria,” Cole ordered. He turned towards Vena as Zane had a hand on her back to comfort her. Kai and Jay both felt awkward, still unsure how to feel about Vena.

“You don’t need to worry about her,” the guard assured, “She won’t be going anywhere anytime soon.”

“Good,” Kai replied, “The last thing we need is another one of her plans to deal with.” Kai turned to the others. “You guys wanna get going?”

The others nodded and they all turned away, leaving the prison. Vena followed them, but took a moment to look back at Corria one last time. Corria stared at her, a twisted smile on her face. Vena continued to look at her before giving a quiet scowl and leaving with the ninja.

______________________________________________

The ninja got back to the monastery, Vena joining them. She looked around as she entered the outside training area.

“Wow, this is where you guys live?” She questioned, “Huh. I thought it would be bigger.”

“Well don’t get too comfy,” Kai warned, “You won’t be staying for long.”

“That’s fair,” Vena shrugged before walking away to inspect the training equipment.

Everyone was quiet for a while as they watched Vena with slight confusion. Jay turned to the others.

“So… what do we do with her?” he asked.

“What do you mean?” Cole questioned, “We’re just letting her stay for the night to thank her for helping us.”

“How do we know she won’t try to kill us or something?” Jay continued, “She  _ is  _ a dark magic user.”

“She won’t do that,” Zane assured.

“How can you be so sure?”

“Because she is our friend.”

“She’s your guys’ friend,” Kai argued, “Jay and I aren’t friends with her.”

“Oh c’mon guys,” Cole replied, “You guys are just being paranoid.”

“She literally tried to kill us, Cole!” Jay argued.

“You realize I can hear you, right?” Vena called over, not taking her eyes off of the training equipment.

“See, she’s using mind powers to listen to our conversation!” Jay continued is a slightly hushed voice.

“Oh, I didn’t realize using my ears qualified as mind powers,” Vena retorted.

Cole attempted to stifle a laugh while Jay turned to Vena with an offended look on his face.

“Look, I’ll get out of your guys’ hair, don’t worry,” Vena assured, walking back over to the ninja, “Besides, I gotta fix up my cave after all the stuff you guys put it through.”

“Do you want help cleaning up?” Zane offered.

“No, I’ll be fine,” Vena replied, “Besides, I deserve SOME sort of punishment for what I’ve done. Just make sure to come visit every once in a while.”

“You don’t have to go right away,” Cole said, “You’re welcomed here.”

“Thanks for the offer,” Vena responded, “But I’m still trying to get used to this whole, ‘being welcomed at the ninja’s monastery,’ thing. And I can also see a couple of you guys aren’t used to the whole, ‘woah, Vena isn’t a completely terrible person,’ thing.”

“We’ll be keeping an eye on you,” Kai warned, “Don’t think you can trick us so easily. We’ll be ready if you try and attack again.”

“Oh, sorry to disappoint you, red,” Vena teased, “But I don’t have any evil plans right now.”

“Right now!” Jay yelled, “That means you WILL have them later!”

Vena let out a little laugh. “Wow, you really are paranoid, huh?” she asked, “I’m just messing around. I won’t be causing you guys any trouble. On purpose at least.”

“Don’t worry, Vena,” Cole replied, “We trust you. Well, at least Zane and I trust you.”

“Heh, thanks,” Vena said, “Alright, I gotta get going now.” She turned around heading for the exit of the monastery. She paused for a moment to wave goodbye to the ninja. The ninja waved back, Kai and Jay hesitating for a moment before waving. Vena left, closing the large gate doors behind her.

The ninja all stood quietly for what felt like hours until Jay finally broke the silence.

“So… what do you guys wanna do now?”

“We’ve got some free time,” Cole said, “I think we deserve some vacation time.”

“I can get behind that,” Kai agreed. 

The ninja all nodded and turned around to head inside but were stopped as they heard the gate open. They all turned to see the gates slowly open, each of them standing on guard as they waited to see who was behind the gate.

“Uhh, guys? Who was that strange snake lady leaving the monastery?”

“Lloyd!” the ninja cheered. They all ran up to the green ninja giving him a group hug.

“You’re back from your vacation!” Jay said after they all released Lloyd from the hug.

“Yeah,” Lloyd replied, “But you guys still didn’t answer my question.”

“Oh, that was Vena,” Cole answered, “She’s our new friend.”

“What?”

“Yeah, she tried to kill me and Kai but I guess she’s cool now,” Jay continued, “But I’m still not trusting her completely.”

“I’m sorry, WHAT!?” Lloyd questioned, “I think I’m even more lost. What did I miss?”

“Eh, not much,” Kai shrugged, “C’mon, we’ll tell you about it inside.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Oh boi that was a wild ride huh?  
All joking aside, I really enjoyed writing this fic and I hope you guys enjoyed reading it. I know this chapter was short, but that's just a common thing with my final chapters. Sorry for the long wait, but hey, at least the fic is finally done. Not sure what I'm gonna write next, I might take a short break from writing cause school and stuff


End file.
